Some Descendants of William de Douglas
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This Castle was demolished in 1938 due to an unstable foundation caused by coal mining in the area
"It is said that if the name of Douglas were removed from Scottish history there would be few stories left for the telling. They belong to legend as much as to history. Whatever they did was dramatic and usually memorable and were Scotland's outstanding representatives in the Age of Chivalry. Obviously, if the Douglases had not existed it would have been necessary for Sir Walter Scott to invent them."
-Scotland Magazine
The Following is an extract of a research paper by Dr. Deborah Richmond Foulkes, FSA Scot
William Douglas was the abbot of Melrose in the beginning of the eleventh century. His name was mentioned in a catalogue of abbots for the monastery and included an anecdote that this William Douglas was a favorite of St. Fothad, the Bishop of St. Andrews who died in 962 and of Grime, King of Scots who died in 1003. From these facts we can deduce that his date of birth must have occurred before 940 as he was likely ordained in his twenty-second year or later to come under the watchful eye of his patron the Bishop of St. Andrews.
The records also reveal another strange fact: the cloister of Melrose Abbey was built by Abbot Douglas and at his own personal expense! From this bit of information we can be assured that this churchman and his family were people of substantial means. After the death of King Grime, the abbot became the confessor to Malcolm II who succeeded as King of Scots; another indication of the priest’s prominent standing within the community of the realm. Abbot Douglas was still alive according to the records in 1011. This wonderful bit of Douglas history found in the Melrose Abbey records supports the long held tradition that the Douglases were a prominent Borders clan for centuries; some 350 years prior to their ascendancy to power wielded from the acquisition of charters issued by Robert the Brus, King of Scots to the Good Sir James.
This exciting discovery also provides credence to the storytellers’ version of our clan’s much earlier history; specifically the accounts of another Douglas patriot and nobleman, Sholto Duglas and his younger son William who later followed Charlemagne to a part of the continent now known as Piacenza, Italy. According to a letter dated 8th May 1622 from Marco Antonio Scoto d’Agazano to William Douglas, 11th Earl of Angus, the Douglas Scotti of Agazano were descendants of that 8th century Scottish nobleman William Douglas who joined Charlemagne on campaign as his lieutenant. From the catalogue of Melrose Abbey we can be reasonably certain that the Douglases were a powerful and respected Border Clan in the 10th century; their son the abbot of Melrose Abbey, building the cloister at his own cost. With these facts in mind we are another step closer to validating that 8th century tale of our earlier Douglas ancestors in the Scottish Borders.
This web page deals with the genealogy of those lines from Col John Douglas of Maryland who immigrated from Scotland to Charles County Maryland in 1654 and primairly settled in the Warren County Kentucky area in the early 1820's. Descendants in Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Texas and other states are addressed also. Any Douglas who is a member of this line is welcome to submit information or photographs to this page. Please send submissions to the e-mail address listed below
If any errors are noted in your family please advise me immediately for correction.
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| William H. Douglas
1938 SE 161 Terrace Ocklawaha, Fl 32179 |
Created 2 Jul 2010 with RootsMagic Genealogy Software