Sir John Douglas, 3rd Bt of Kelhead
Sir John Douglas, 3rd Baronet of Kelhead (abt 1708 - 13 November
1778) was Member of Parliament for Dumfriesshire between 1741 and
1747.
A descendant of William
Douglas, 1st Earl of Queensberry, he married Christian
Cunningham, daughter of Sir William Cunningham of Caprington, 2nd
Bt.
Douglas belonged to a junior branch of the Queensberry family, on
whose interest he contested Dumfries Burghs unsuccessfully at a
by-election in 1735. Returned as a Tory for the county in 1741, he
voted against the Government.
He was related to Lord
Traquair, the chief intermediary between the English and Scottish
Jacobites in the negotiations leading to the Forty-five, in which
his brothers were involved. In January 1746, during the siege of the
castle of Stirling, he arrived from London to see the Young
Pretender, with reports of messages sent to France by the English
Jacobite leaders, Lord Barrymore and Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, and
with the news that the sum of £10,000 was lying in the city of
London for the Prince’s use. This was disclosed by Murray of
Broughton, the Young Pretender’s secretary, who turned King’s
evidence, with the result that in August 1746 Douglas was sent to
the Tower, the House being notified of his arrest for high treason.
At a meeting of the Privy Council, 11 Nov., Sir John Douglas
being then asked what he has to say to the facts above mentioned
[Murray’s evidence] he saith that he shall make no answer in any
shape, that perhaps this may be ill manners, but that being no
lawyer he doth not think fit to give any answer.
Attempts to
get corroborative evidence having failed, he was released in March
1748 on bail of £4,000.6 Excepted by name from the subsequent Act of
Indemnity, 20 Geo. II, c.52, he did not stand again.
‘The further Examination of John Murray of Broughton’
[Tower?], 13 August 1746, in which Murray disclosed the details of
his meeting
with Sir John Douglas of Killhead MP, during the Jacobite siege of
Sterling (sic). Sir
John’s mission was to inform Charles of funds raised by the London
Jacobites.
The figure referred to in this examination was £10,000. Also see
Christie, ‘The
Tory Party, Jacobitism and the ’Forty-Five’, 924, where Alderman
George Heathcote is given credit for raising these assets.
He died at Drumlanrig on 13 November, 1778, and was succeeded by his
son, Sir William Douglas, 4th Baronet of Kelhead, the MP for
Dumfries Burghs.
- Birth: ABT. 1708
- Death: 13 NOV 1778
Father: William (Sir) (2nd Bt of
Kelhead) Douglas b: ABT. 1675
Mother: Helen Erskine
Marriage 1 Christian (of Caprington) Cunningham
Children
- William (Sir) (4th Bt of Kelhead)
Douglas b: ABT. 1730
-
James Charles Sholto Douglas m1. Basilia Dawes (dau of James Dawes of
Rockspring, Jamaica) m2.
Mary Bullock (dau of Rev. Richard Bullock)
-
Stair Douglas (d 08.04.1789, Captain RN) m.
(24.07.1802) Anne Payne (d 04.06.1865, dau of John Payne)
- John
Douglas (d unm 1759)
- Helen
Douglas (d unm)
- Janet
Douglas m.
(13.11.1767) William Irving of Bonshaw
- Christian
Douglas (d young)
- Catherine
Douglas (dsp) m.
(13.11.1767) William Butler of London
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
Errors and Omissions
|
|
The Forum
|
|
What's new?
|
|
We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas
Archives.
If you spot errors, or omissions, then
please do let us know
Contributions
Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing.
Can you help?
Copyright
You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page
to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites
without our express permission and then, if given, only by including
our copyright and a URL link to the web site.
|
|
If you have met a brick wall
with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives
Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer!
You may also be able to help others answer their queries.
Visit the
Douglas Archives Forum.
2 Minute Survey
To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of
minutes to complete our
survey.
|
|
We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our
What's New section on the
home page.
We also use
the Community
Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the
Douglas Archives.
Help with costs
Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs. Any
contribution the defray them is very welcome
Donate
Newsletter
If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter -
Sign up!
Temporarily withdrawn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
