Douglas of Brigton

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Crest used by Brig W.C. Douglas, 5th of brigton

Note: Brigton, Co. Angus (Forfarshire)

Sometimes referred to as Bridgetown, e.g. in old bonds.

Alexander Strachan of Carmylie received the lands of Brigton, in the parish of Kinnettles, Forfarshire, from Robert III. In the first quarter of the seventeenth century the Lyon family of Glamis bought Brigton from the Strachans. The barony was acquired by the Douglas family, who were related to the Earls of Angus, in the first half of the eighteenth century. William Douglas, the first of Brigton was succeeded by his son Robert who died by 1752 and was succeeded by his son William.

The Douglas family had acquired Brigton in 1742 from the Earls of Strathmore – the Lyon family, before they became Bowes Lyon – who owned extensive lands at Glamis, later the childhood home of the late Queen Mother.

Robert Douglas, 1st of Brigton, 1701-1750, was succeeded by his son,

William Douglas, 2nd of Brigton, 1745-1814, was succeeded by his 2nd son,

Robert Douglas, 3rd of Brigton, 1773-1835, succeeded by his son,

William Douglas, 4th of Brigton, 1803 - 1869

Brigadier William Charles Douglas DSO, 5th of Brigton, 1862-1938

Marion Douglas of Brigton, Feudal Baroness of Brigton (6th)

David Wedderburn, b. 15/8/1757, third and youngest son of Robert Wedderburn of Pearsie and Isobel Edward, m. at Dundee. in 1785, his second cousin Elizabeth Read, b. 13/10/1770 [only daughter of Alexander Read of Logie, co. Angus, by his wife, Ann Fletcher - Alexander Read being a grandson of Elizabeth Wedderburn, d. of Sir Alexander W., 4th Bt. of Blackness, & Katharine Scott

David Wedderburn-Webster & Elizabeth Read’s daughter, Anne, b. at Clapham on 2/3/1791, m. Aug. 1814, Archibald Murray Douglas, brother of her stepfather, Robert Douglas of Brigton, and had a son and two daughters. Anne d. in July 1822. Their daughter Mary, b. at Clapham, on 15/9/1793, m. George Hawkins of Harnish House, co. Wilts., grandson of Sir Cæsar Hawkins, Bt. of Kelstone, Somerset. They had no issue.

David W.-W. & Elizabeth Read had three sons and two daughters. After David’s death in 1801, Elizabeth m. ii) in June 1802, Robert Douglas (s. of William Douglas of Brigton, co. Angus, & Elizabeth Graham). Robert was brother to Archibald Murray Douglas, who m. David’s & Elizabeth’s elder daughter Anne, b. 2/3/1791. - Robert d. on 2/8/1835, leaving issue including a son, William Douglas, afterwards of Brigton, b. 4/8/1803, d. 16/2/1869. On being widowed for the second time Elizabeth went to live at Broughty Ferry, not far from the estate of her son William Douglas.

William Douglas, Provost of Forfar, was an ancestor of the family of Douglas of Brigton

Dr. Robert Douglas, Bishop of Brechin, father of Provost William See also: Auchinleck

Angus Macmillan-Douglas

Brigadier William Charles Douglas, 1862- son of William Douglas, had 4 daughters

Major David Fyffe of the Lodge, Broughty Ferry, married one of the daughters of the late Robert Douglas, senior, of Brigton, a descendant of the Bishop of Dunblane, and through him of the Douglases, formerly Earls of Angus.

...Charles Hunter, 8th Laird of Burnside and William Douglas of Brigton sharing this bond. ...Charles' daughter married a Douglas of Brigton. ...

Margaret Douglas (b 02.01.1770) dau of William, 2nd of Brigton, m. (02.06.1794) Captain David Hunter of Burnside (see portrait)


General Douglas of Brigton's bookplate	The heart was incorporated into the Douglas arms on the marriage of Margaret Douglas and David Hunter (later General Hunter).

People painted by Sir Henry Raeburn include, on the left, Elizabeth Douglas of Brigton (née Graham) (1757-1816) presumably the wife of William, 2nd of Brigton and on the right, Mrs Hunter, nee Margaret Douglas

The Douglas family occupied Dudhope castle until circa 1790 when they moved to Dudhope House. William Douglas of Brigton, obtained a lease and sub-let the castle to the "British Woollen Co" in 1792-3. It became a government barracks during the alarms occasioned by the French Revolution. Served as Barracks from 1793-1880. Purchased by the Town (with neighbouring feuars and private persons) in 1893, although again requisitioned in the two world wars.

WILLIAM DOUGLAS, a domiciled Scotchman, on the 28th of November, 1767, on his marriage with Elizabeth Graham, settled his hereditary estate of Brigton, Forfarshire, on himself and his heirs male, with a provision for younger children. William Douglas was also proprietor of other family estates, situated at Glammis and Broughty Ferry, in Scotland.

In 1811 the Brigton estate was sold in lots, and the mansion house and grounds, with part of the land surrounding it, were purchased by Robert Douglas, principally with money borrowed from his wife’s trustees. The remainder of the estate was sold to Lord Strathmore.

Shortly after his father’s death, in 1814, Robert Douglas refurnished Brigton, and resided there, with his wife and son, till his death on the 8th of August, 1835.

William Douglas, at his father’s death was thirty-two years of age. From 1815 or 1816 he had always resided with his father and mother at Brigton as his home, which, after the sale in 1811, consisted of the mansion-house and grounds and the home farm. After Robert Douglas’s death Mrs. Douglas lived with her son at Brigton, defraying all the household expenses, and her son, managed the farm, which was kept in hand and was his own property.

In June, 1846, Mrs. Douglas bought a house at Broughty Ferry called Carbat House, distant about twelve miles from Brigton, which she occupied as a winter residence, and Brigton as a summer residence, till her death on the 9th of September, 1857. Between the death of his father and mother the testator occasionally paid short visits to England.

Some time in the latter part of the life of Robert Douglas the Brigton estate had been materially decreased by the sale of a further portion of it to Lord Strathmore, at the price of £18,000; and it seems to have consisted, when Robert died, of the mansion-house and grounds, and a single farm called the “home farm.” Mrs. Douglas, continued to live at Brigton after her husband’s death, and her son lived with her as before, the mother paying the immediate or whole expense of the indoor establishment, the son living with her and managing the farm, which was his own property, and was kept in hand.

Douglastown...A flax spinning mill, four stories high, and of proportionate length and breadth, was built here in 1792 bv Mr. Douglas of Brigton and partners ; and the ...

Mrs Cox, nee Douglas of Brigton

... part being held by William Douglas of Brigton through his mother, Ann Hunter.

One of the rare examples of a landed gentleman actively participating in new developments in the textile industry was William Douglas of Brigton who on his ...

John Guthrie of Guthrie, married July 22, 1798, Anne, daughter of William Douglas of Brigton, and with 5 daughters had 2 sons, John and William, both at one time officers in the army He died Nov. 12, 1845. His elder son, John Guthrie of Guthrie, deputy lieutenant of Forfarshire, born July 23, 1805, married, July 23, 1844, Harriet, daughter of Barnabas Maude, Esq., and granddaughter of Joseph Maude, Esq., of Kendal

All the county roads in Angus are to he repaired from the subscription-fund. We are much indebted to the exertions of Mr. Douglas of Brigton(1), who transacts and superintends the business of the road from Forfar to Dundee, and for several miles on the Strathmore road. To render the road convenient, deep bank, are avoided, and on Mr. Douglas's ground in this parish, the road takes a new direction for 1� miles through inclosures of land of very excellent quality. - Statistical Accounts for the Parish of Kinnettles in Angus (or Forfarshire), Scotland Years 1791-99 and 1835

Lieutenant William Douglas, The 78th Highlanders, 'son of Brigton, Lieut.-Colonel 91st Regiment'

According to the Harrow records, in Sept. 1800 a Mr Webster entered the school, aged 12. This is James. He left Harrow the same term, however, unplaced. He was probably intolerable.

On March 21, 1801 James's father died, in Bath, of a decline, and James's mother went to live at Langham House, Suffolk. In June 1802 she married again, at Langham, to Robert Douglas of Brigton, and they went to live at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, and after that, to Newly Wiske, Yorkshire.

In late 1835 James's mother was widowed again, and left Brigton to live at Broughty Ferry, not far from the estate of her son William Douglas. She would die in September 1857, aged nearly 100.

John Guthrie of Guthrie married 22 July 1798 Anne, daughter of William Douglas of Brigton, and had issue: John, William, Elizabeth, Margaret, Anne, James and Helen Douglas.

William, John and James Douglas, sons of the deceased William Douglas in Brigton (c1762) Note: could well be of the Wigtonshire Brigton, ie not connected to this family.

William Douglas			Provost of Forfar
Robert Douglas	1st of Brigton		Acquired the property in 1743
William Douglas	2nd	Married Elizabeth Graham of Fintry	Died 28 Sep 1814 Had a 2nd son, Sir William Douglas KCB
Robert Douglas	3rd	Married Elizabeth Read of Logie	1733-1835
William Douglas	4th	Married Ellen Rigge	Died 10 Feb 1869
William Douglas DSO	5th	Married Jeanette Hutchison	Born 18 Jun 1862

Notes:

1. Probably the 2nd laird, who seems to have nearly bankrupted the family. It was probably he who was responsible for the Douglaston Flax Mill.

Douglas of Brigton

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