Admiral Sir James Douglas of Springwood
Douglas, Sir James, first baronet of
Springwood (1703–1787),
naval officer, was the son of George Douglas 7th laird of Friarshaw,
Roxburghshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Patrick Scott,
baronet, of Ancrum, in the same county. This Douglas line descended
from the Douglas of Cavers branch of the family, and were lawyers
and merchants. They took the title Douglas of Friarshaw from the
original seat of the family in the parish of Lilliesleaf.
Douglas, despite entering the navy in 1715, had to wait until 1732
to be commissioned. However, he was—and remained—politically
well-connected. In 1741, when he was serving at Cartagena in the
Tilbury, his patron was William Pulteney. On 14 March 1744 Douglas
was posted to the Mermaid (40 guns) and he commanded her at the
capture of Louisbourg in 1745. On that station in 1746 he commanded
the Vigilant (64 guns), and in the same year was appointed Commodore
of Newfoundland by Vice-Admiral Townsend.
From 1754 to 1768
he was MP for the seat of Orkney and Shetland, a constituency which
provided a number of men for the navy. Often absent from parliament,
he followed his patron, the earl of Morton, in his support of the
duke of Newcastle.
He returned to the navy and, in 1756,
Douglas commanded the Bedford in the Home Fleet and in December and
January he sat on Admiral John Byng's court martial. In the
following year he commanded the Alcide (64 guns) on the fruitless
Rochefort expedition. In 1759, while in the same ship, he served at
the capture of Quebec. Admiral Charles Saunders valued his knowledge
of ‘the French language, and particularly their sea-terms’ and found
him ‘very useful’ in dealing with ‘the French pilots’ (TNA: PRO, ADM
1/482, part 1, fol. 50). In September Saunders sent Douglas home
with the tidings of victory and the king duly rewarded him with a
knighthood and a gift of £500.
In 1760 Douglas was appointed
to the Dublin as commodore and commander-in-chief at the Leeward
Islands. Here he displayed administrative and diplomatic skills, and
dealt effectively with troublesome enemy privateers. In 1761 he
moved swiftly and successfully, in conjunction with Lord Rollo and
his troops, to take the island of Dominica.
In 1762 Douglas
was understandably surprised to be superseded by Rear-Admiral George
Rodney, and he served as Rodney's second-in-command at the capture
of Martinique. Later that year Douglas was appointed to the chief
command at Jamaica where he handled the local planters with
characteristic tact. He gave indispensable support to the Havana
expedition but, to his chagrin, did not share in the lavish
subsequent rewards. On 21 October he was promoted rear-admiral of
the white. During the peace he went out again to the West Indies as
commander-in-chief.
In October 1770 Douglas advanced to
vice-admiral, and from 1773 to 1777 he was commander-in-chief at
Portsmouth. In January 1778 he became an admiral of the blue and, in
April 1782, an admiral of the white.
Douglas was twice
married: first in 1753 to Helen (d. 1766), daughter of Thomas
Brisbane of Brisbane in Ayrshire; the couple had four sons and three
daughters. His second wife was Lady Helen Boyle, daughter of John,
second earl of Glasgow and Helenor, née Morison.
James Douglas, who had begun his illustrious career in the Royal
Navy at the age of 12, eventually rising to command ships at
Cartagena and Louisbourg during the War of the Austrian Succession.
His naval exploits and subsequent prize money allowed him to
purchase an estate in the Scottish Borders at Bridgend, near Kelso,
which he renamed Springwood Park in 1750 for around £5500 sterling.
However, Douglas's ambitions were not limited to his native
Scotland. In parallel with his landholdings in Scotland, he made
significant investments in Dutch Demerara, highlighting his broader
imperial interests. By 1765, Douglas had extended his landholdings
in Scotland by purchasing the
Barony of Longnewton, comprising
eleven farms. These acquisitions were made just as his financial
commitments to his Caribbean plantation increased, indicating that
Douglas's investments were funded independently, likely through his
naval prize money.
When he purchased
Springwood
Park, Kelso, in 1750 he changed its
name from Bridgend.
Having been created a baronet on 27 June
1786, he died on 2 November 1787 and was survived by children from
his first marriage, including Admiral
James Douglas, leaving the estate to his son,
George.
Further research:
The James Douglas papers are comprised of letters, letter books, logbooks, account books, and official naval documents relating to the career of Sir James Douglas, a British Admiral who was active in European and Caribbean waters and participated in the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg.
See also:
Douglas of Friarhaw
Douglas of Springwood
• Brothers in arms: Crossing imperial boundaries in the eighteenth-century Dutch West Indies; Douglas hamilton
HAMILTON, Douglas
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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