William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton (1582 – 7 August 1648) was a grandson of the 6th Earl of Morton. He was Treasurer of Scotland, and a zealous

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

Life

He was the son of Robert Douglas, Master of Morton, and Jean Lyon, daughter of John Lyon, 8th Lord Glamis. There was a rumour in the summer of 1602 that he, the "young Earl of Morton", would marry Elizabeth Stewart, the eldest daughter of the exiled Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, who was described as "a very gallant lady". In May 1617 he was travelling in France, and met up in

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

with Henry Erskine, the son of the Earl of Mar and his French-born second-wife Marie Stewart. One of their companions fell sick, and Morton asked if the doctors had

bezoar A bezoar stone ( ) is a mass often found trapped in the gastrointestinal system, though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system. There are several varieties o ...

stones, and they scorned him for believing in such things. Morton left Bourges for

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

with the Earl of Angus, and was thinking of visiting the court of the Elector Palatine. Morton himself became ill at Paris of a "dangerous" and "irrecoverable and deadly disease." King James wrote to the Earl of Mar from Theobalds on 26 March 1618 asking him take measures to protect Morton's son's inheritance. However, Morton recovered. Morton offended decorum at court at the time of the death of

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

. In April 1625, when the body of the king was bought from Theobalds, it was noticed that the Earls of Morton and Roxburghe were not in attendance, but had gone to be "merry" at More Park with Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford. Morton was Treasurer of Scotland from 1630 to 1636. He extended his home at Aberdour Castle in Fife, with a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-style east wing, with a long gallery overlooking a formal terraced garden. On the outbreak of the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...

in 1642, he provided £100,000 for the Royalist cause by selling his Dalkeith estates to the Earl of Buccleuch.

Family

In June 1602 there was a rumour he would marry one of the Earl of Bothwell's daughters, who was "a very gallant lady". On 28 March 1604, he married Lady Anne Keith, a daughter of George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal, and they had ten children:(douglasshistory.co.uk) *Margaret Douglas (1610–1678), married Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll and had issue. *Anne Douglas (d. 1667), married the George Hay, 2nd Earl of Kinnoull and had issue. * Robert Douglas, 8th Earl of Morton (d. 1649), married Anne Villiers, their son was William Douglas, 9th Earl of Morton (d.1681). *Lady Mary Douglas, married Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline and had issue. * James Douglas, 10th Earl of Morton (d. 1686) He succeeded his nephew as earl in 1681. *Isabel Douglas (1630-1673), who married James Graham, 2nd Marquess of Montrose and had issue. *Nicholas Douglas (d. 1686). *Jean Douglas, who married James Home, 3rd Earl of Home. *Agnes Douglas

Claimant to the earldom

John Maxwell, 9th Lord Maxwell (c. 1586–1613), a descendant of the 3rd Earl, also claimed the earldom of Morton, but was attainted in 1609 and his rights then failed. His titles and estates were restored in 1618 to his brother Robert, with the title of Earl of Nithsdale (1620) in lieu of Morton.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, William Douglas, 7th Earl Of 1582 births 1648 deaths Nobility from Midlothian Earls of Morton Knights of the Garter William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton 17th-century Scottish politicians 17th-century Scottish people Lord high treasurers of Scotland Cavaliers Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1617 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1621 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1621 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1625 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1630 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1643–44 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1644–1647