Cecilia Eliza Douglas

Click here to 
Print this page

Biography finder

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

 

Index of first names

Douglas Commolly family tree  


This page is a stub.  You can help improve it.


Cecilia Eliza Douglas (1812 – Nov. 1859?) was the youngest of three known illegitimate children born to John (II) Douglas' (1772–1840) and Martha Ann Ritchie (later? Telfer) (c. 1780s-July 1839). She married David Cameron (1804–1872), first Chief Justice of Vancouver Island.

Cecilia Douglas' father, John (II) Douglas, was in partnership with two of his brothers, Thomas and Archibald, as J. T. & A. Douglas and Company, with cotton and sugar interests in Demerara and Berbice? or Esquisse?. Their father, John (I) Douglas, had married Cecilia Buchanan, whose family owned tobacco plantations in Virginia, USA.(1)

John (II) Douglas looked after his firm's sugar plantations in Demerara, where he cohabited with Martha Ann Telfer (n้e Ritchie) (c1780s-July 1839), Cecilia Cowan Cameron's grandmother. She was a free coloured Creole born in Barbados, living in New Amsterdam, Berbice or Georgetown, Demerara, later British Guiana, now Guyana. Martha Ritchie married at some point one Richard? Telfer: her will was in the name of Mrs. M. A. Telfer.

Cecilia Eliza Douglas, the daughter of a free coloured Creole, had a turbulent start when the itinerant sea captain Cowan, her partner, left for America. Despite her efforts to reunite with him, she never found him.

Returning to British Guiana, Cecilia married David Cameron (1804–1872), a Scotsman working on a plantation, on 4 June 1838. David, possibly connected to her father's trading firm, relocated the family to Britain in 1845. Cecilia ensured her daughter, Cecilia Cowan Cameron, received an education in Cologne at the age of 13 or 14, showcasing her determination and foresight in securing a bright future for her family.

Some twelve years before Cecilia they had two sons (Alfred Young's great-uncles(2)) in Demerara; they were Alexander (b. c1801-2) and James Douglas (b. Demerara 1803). They grew up in Georgetown with their mother, Martha, while John Douglas returned to Scotland and married Jessie (or Janet) Hamilton of Greenock in 1809. However, he continued to consort with Martha Ritchie on another trip (by 1811) to Demerara; their daughter Cecilia Eliza Douglas (1812-Nov. 1859) (Cecilia Cowan's mother), was born in Georgetown in 1812.  Douglas took his two sons (aged about 10 and 11) back to Scotland (probably by summer 1812), where they were educated in Lanark.

Like her brothers before her, Cecilia Eliza Douglas grew up in Demerara with her mother Martha Ritchie (who at some point married Richard? Telfer in Georgetown), and her grandmother, Rebecca Ritchie. Rebecca was a free coloured or mulatto Creole woman born in Barbados, who moved to New Amsterdam, Demerara with her daughter Martha in the late 1790s and owned 30 slaves. When Martha Telfer died in July 1839 she left some of her estate to her granddaughter (Alfred Young's mother(2)), Cecilia Eliza Cowan.

Notes:
1. John (II) Douglas was the third of eight children born to John (I) Douglas and Cecilia Buchanan, who came from a wealthy prominent Glasgow family with a tobacco plantation in Virginia on the Potomac River adjoining that of George Washington's elder brother. Their children were:

William Douglas (1769 – before 1828)
Cecilia (I) Douglas (c1770 – 25 July 1862), inherited Orbiston Park, on the R. Calder twixt Bothwell & Hamilton. Left ฃ40,365 in her will.
John (II) Douglas (1771 or 2 – 1840) – Alfred Young's grandfather
Neil (incorrectly Neill) Douglas (1773 or 4 – 1853) – Colonel or Lt-General with Scottish regiments.
Thomas Dunlop Douglas (1775 – Jan 1869) – Left ฃ300,000 in his will.
Archibald Douglas (1776–1860)
James Douglas (? – d. before 1853?)
Colin Douglas (? – d. before 1828)

2.  Sir Alfred Karney Young (1 August 1864 – 5 January 1942), was Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
Cecilia Eliza Cowan Cameron married Alfred's father, Assistant Paymaster William A. G. Young, RN, (later Sir William Young) on 20 March 1858.; Young was soon to be appointed Colonial Secretary of British Columbia, and was later Governor of Gold Coast. He had arrived in BC as Commissioner's secretary on the joint Anglo-American Boundary Commission for New Caledonia, which – thanks to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush – shortly became British Columbia, where he became Colonial Secretary.

Source

 

Sources for this article include:
  • A Indicates that multiple sources may have been accessed in the making of the article


    Any contributions will be gratefully accepted






  •  

    Back to top

     



    The content of this website is a collection of materials gathered from a variety of sources, some of it unedited.

    The webmaster does not intend to claim authorship, but gives credit to the originators for their work.

    As work progresses, some of the content may be re-written and presented in a unique format, to which we would then be able to claim ownership.

    Discussion and contributions from those more knowledgeable is welcome.

    Contact Us

    Last modified: Friday, 02 August 2024