Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie, PC, KC, FRS,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, FSA (24 May 1743 – 2 May 1823) was a British lawyer and politician. He was

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

between 1793 and 1794.

Background, education and legal career

He was the son of John Douglas, descended from James Douglas, minister of Glenbervie in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, son of Sir Archibald Douglas and half-brother of William Douglas, 9th Earl of Angus. His mother was Margaret Gordon, daughter and co-heir of James Gordon, of Fechel. His sister Katherine married James Mercer, army officer and poet. Douglas was educated at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, graduating MA in 1765 and then studied both Law and Medicine at the University of Leyden. He was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

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in 1771, was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1776 and became

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1793.

Political career

The same year he was appointed a King's Counsel Douglas gave up his legal career on his appointment as

under

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

. In 1794 he was admitted to both the Irish and English Privy Council and returned to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for St Canice, a seat he held until 1796. In 1795 he was elected to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

for

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. He later represented

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between 1796 and 1800, Plympton Erle between 1801 and 1802 and

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between 1802 and 1806. He was asked to accompany Earl Macartney to the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

in 1796 and, after 18 months there, to succeed him as governor. His wife did not like the idea and he declined the offer, even though an Irish peerage had also been offered. In 1797 Douglas was made a Lord of the Treasury by Pitt, In 1800 Douglas was asked for a second time to go to the Cape as governor. He finally agreed in October 1800, again for an

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and was so appointed Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Douglas changed his mind again and accepted a post as Joint Paymaster of HM Forces, subsequently receiving £2731. 10s. in salary, paid from the Cape Treasury, even though he never went there. At the end of the year on 29 November 1800 he was created Baron Glenbervie, of Kincardine, in Scotland. After serving as joint

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration (1660), Restoration of the Monarchy to Charles II of England, and was responsible for part of the financin ...

between 1801 and 1803 and

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-president of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade, within the Department for Business and Trade. The office of Vice-president was created in 1786 b ...

between 1801 and 1804, he was Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases between 1803 and 1806 and 1807 and 1810. On the office of the Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown being combined with the former in 1810, became the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, the head of the new department. He held the office until 1814.

Personal life

In 1789 Lord Glenbervie married Lady Catherine Anne, eldest daughter of

Frederick North, Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He ...

.thepeerage.com Sylvester Douglas, 1st and last Baron Glenbervie
/ref> Their only son Frederick Douglas sat as Member of Parliament for

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

between 1812 and his early death in 1819. Lady Glenbervie died in February 1817, aged 56. Glenbervie survived her by six years and died in May 1823, aged 79. As he had no surviving male issue the barony became extinct on his death. His library was sold by R. H. Evans in London in two parts, on 13 June 1823 (and seven following days) and 5 July 1823 (and six following days; copies of the catalogue are at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.126(11) and Munby.c.126(13)). In 1795 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

of London and in 1806 elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, when his proposers were Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank, Gilbert Innes and

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Glenbervie, Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron 1743 births 1823 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire 18th-century British lawyers 18th-century King's Counsel 19th-century British Army personnel Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Members of Lincoln's Inn Douglas, Sylvester Douglas, Sylvester Douglas, Sylvester Douglas, Sylvester Douglas, Sylvester Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plympton Erle UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs who were granted peerages Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Chief secretaries for Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies Rectors of the University of Aberdeen

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

Paymasters of the Forces Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London