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Lady Jane Douglas -
1
I have received an interesting inquiry:
I am
descended from a man named Henry Downs, of England, whose wife was named
Jane Douglas. They were born in the late 1600s. Jane was said to be from
Castle Douglas, Scotland. Family lore states that Jane may have been
banished from the family for marrying Downs. I am looking for
information about this couple, and would greatly appreciate any help you
can give.
Elsewhere, it is said that:
Lady Jane Douglas
was of the house of Douglas in Scotland and may have eloped with Henry
Downs and ran away to America.
Henry Downs has been described as
a 'Gentleman', as a 'British sea captain' and as the 'builder', Sir
Henry Downs, who was at Douglas Castle (not Castle Douglas) to make
repairs when he met and fell in love with Lady Jane Douglas. The match
was supposedly opposed, so she eloped. The story continues that when the
estate of Richard Douglas, a Charleston merchant, made a loan of
£500,000 to the South Carolina forces during the war, the funds were
provided by Lady Jane, though whether an eloping girl could take those
sorts of funds with her is doubtful.
It is thought that Henry and
Jane married in about 1715, an interesting year in the history of
Douglas Castle.
Archibald, Duke of Douglas, 1694-1761 became
involved in the civil wars that were caused by the dynastic rivalries of
the houses of Hanover and Stuart in the eighteenth century. During the
Jacobite rebellion of 1715 he sided with the Hanoverian government and
mustered 300 of his men at Douglas Castle to join the Duke of Argyll.
However lack of provisions meant that they could not depart.
The
succession of the Duke of Douglas was a hotly contested action, giving
rise to the 'Douglas cause', discussed elsewhere about another
Lady Jane Douglas.
A third
Lady Jane Douglas of about that time who surfaces is thought to have
married an Andrew Martin, son of Sir Thomas Martin.
The portrait
(above) of Lady Jane Douglas is, in the book The DOWNES or DOWNS FAMILY
GENEALOGY, associated with Henry Down's wife, but there must be some
doubt about that. Painted by the prominent Scottish portrait-painter,
Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) Lady Jane Douglas is depicted as a shepherdess
seated in a landscape. The young woman is probably around 20 years old,
and Ramsay would have had to paint that whilst still in nappies
(diapers).
I have a note of Henry and Jane's parents, which is
incorrect, but repeat it so that others might be aware.
Henry
Downs was christened at Diddlebury, Shropshire, England 10 Feb 1707. His
parents were Adam Downs and Mrs. Adam Downs.
He married Jane Douglas
. Jane Douglas was christened at Douglas, Lanark, Scotland 18 Mar 1698
daughter of James Douglas and Mary Kerr.
James Douglas, 2nd
Marquess of Douglas was born in 1646. He was the son of Archibald
Douglas, Earl of Angus and Lady Anne Stuart. He married by contract,
firstly, Lady Barbara Erskine, daughter of John Erskine, 21st/4th Earl
of Mar and Jean Mackenzie, on 7 September 1670. He married by contract,
secondly, Lady Mary Kerr, daughter of Robert Kerr, 1st Marquess of
Lothian and Lady Jean Campbell, on 13 December 1692 at Newbattle Abbey,
Newbattle, Scotland. James died on 25 February 1699/0 at Douglas,
Scotland and was buried there on 1 March 1699/0.
James and Mary
had two sons and a daughter, Lady Jane. This is the Lady Jane of the
portrait and Lady Jane Douglas of The Douglas Cause. She was born on 17
March 1698 at Douglas. She married Sir John Stewart of Grandtully, 3rd
Bt., son of Sir Thomas Stewart of Balcaskie, 1st Bt. and Lady Jean
Mackenzie, on 4 August 1746 in a secret marriage. She died on 22
November 1753 at age 55 at Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.
Pearl Jones, wife of Eugene Lemuel Downs, five generations from
Henry, many years ago told [me] that the Downs family once owned land
near Manchester but the Queen took it from then. There are indeed a
good many of the Downs name around Macclesfield, a few miles south of
Manchester.
Lady Jane Douglas - 2
I have received the following
request:
I am attempting to research my families history in the
Americas. I have been given the task to find the origin of one Andrew
Martin. He is the son of Sir Thomas Martin of England & Scotland,
husband of one Lady Douglas, sister of one Lord Douglas, but which one?.
The son of Thomas migrated to the Americas in the eighteenth century.
To discern Andrew's place of birth, I am forced to look closer at
his antecedents.
However, others are looking for a Sir Thomas
MARTIN and Lady DOUGLAS, from whom are descended Thomas (Amer
Rev)>Andrew>John, Thomas, Jane, Elizabeth. Jane married William WILSON
in York Cty, PA. Andrew, her father owned a "plantation" in Newbury Twp,
PA which was willed to the two boys John and Thomas. John, Thomas and
Jane I believe were in Wheeling WV (VA) together and then moved on to
Bristolville, Trumbull, OH. John and Thomas then moved on to Mogadore,
Summit, OH.
Andrew Martin's will lists only 4 children: Thomas,
John, Jean and Elizabeth and I have a good idea on all
siblings/descendants except Elizabeth. Thomas MARTIN, father of Andrew,
was an ensign in the American Revolution Don't know of any other siblings to
Andrew.
I am told that the Martin family of the Ohio branch
locating in the Western Reserve can be traced back to the 17th century
among the Irish, English and Scottish Protestant converts, the later
including Sir Thomas Martin of England and Scotland who married Lady
Douglas, sister of Lord Douglas of Scotland.
This appears to be
the same family:
Isaac Martin's parents were Daniel and Elizabeth
(Wynne) Martin. Their children included Abigail (b. 178?, m. George
Sypolt), Mary (b. 1790, Philadephia PA, m. Christopher Sypolt), Jacob B.
(b. 1793, Fayette Co. PA, m. Mary Metheny Miller), Sarah (b. 1795, m.
John McNair), Isaac (b. 1797, Preston Co., VA, m. Susannah Metheny),
John (b. 1800, Preston Co., VA, m. Sarah Sypolt). I believe the Morton
History of Preston County says that Isaac was a shoemaker.
Daniel
was a Revolutionary War soldier who, according to the 1850 Census, was
born in New Jersey. You will see, however, in various histories of
Preston County that he was from Germany. One source says that this is
from his pension application but I did not see any reference in that
document to his birthplace. The DAR database also has him born in
Germany. There are family histories that have him as a descendant of
John Martin (b. Devon, England), early settler of Dover, New Hampshire
and Piscataway, New Jersey. [John > Thomas > Gershom > Daniel > Daniel].
I have not yet found, though, the information from Gershom to Daniel to
Daniel. After Elizabeth died in 1837, Daniel Martin married Sarah
Painter and then in 1841, when he was 90+ years old, Eve Everly.
So, we are no nearer knowing if Henry Downs's wife was
a Lady, nor who her parents were.
Not forgetting:
The theory that the James 'The Good' Lord Douglas had a daughter, Jane.
But perhaps this is just speculation?
Note:
This image has been doctored to caption it 'Lady Jane Douglas'.
However it is not her!
The original engraving, below the trimmed part, was captioned "Margareta
ab Austria, Dei gratia, Parma et Placentiae Ducissa" which roughly
translated, is "Margaret of Austria, by the grace of God, duchess of
Parma and Piacenza." Further information about, and a scan of, the
complete untrimmed original engraving from 1636. Margareta was the
illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V by his mistress Johanna Maria
van der Gheynst.
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