Archibald Douglas of Whittinghame, c1540 - 1603

Archibald Douglas, Parson of Douglas,  (c.1540 – 1603) was also Parson of Glasgow, a Senator of the College of Justice, Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and a notorious intriguer. Conspirator and Church of Scotland minister, he was the second son of William Douglas of Whittingham and Janet Matheson.
 

Archibald Douglas was Parson of Douglas, Lanarkshire, prior to January 15, 1561/2 on which day he was awarded the Third of the Benefices for that parsonage. He was appointed to the College of Justice on November 13, 1565 as an Extraordinary Lord in place of Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney.

 

Accused with his elder brother, William Douglas of Whittinghame, of involvement in the conspiracy to murder David Riccio, he was obliged to retire to France for some time. But the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, secured his return to Scotland, where Douglas then successfully negotiated the pardons of the other conspirators, gazetted on 25th December 1566.

 

He then entered into the intrigues of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell and his confederates for the assassination of Darnley, and acted as the agent between them and the Earl of Morton, and, according to the on-the-scaffold confession of his servant Binney or Binning, was actually present at the Kirk of the Field on the night of the murder (9/10 February 1567). In the confusion of the hour Douglas lost his shoes, which he had removed, which were found in the morning and known to be his. No pursuit was however, at that time, instituted against him.

 

On June 2, 1568, he was raised to a Lord Ordinary in the College of Justice in place of John Leslie, Bishop of Ross.

 

He was then sent by Regent, the Earl of Lennox to the Earl of Sussex in September 1570 to congratulate him on his victory over the Border friends of the Queen, and to negotiate support for the Regent's authority. It was thought to be shortly afterwards that he obtained the Parsonage of Glasgow, with some difficulty as the Kirk at first felt him unqualified to enjoy that benefice. In January 1572, however, the requisite sanction was obtained, and he is found to be in receipt of the Thirds of Benefices for Newlands, Glasgow thereafter.

 

In April 1572 he was found to be assisting the party of Mary, Queen of Scots who then held Edinburgh Castle, by conveying to The Grange four out of five thousand Crowns which had been sent to her by the Duke of Alva. He was at the same time accused of conspiring for the death of the Earl of Morton, and was warded (held under house arrest) at Stirling Castle (another source says Loch Leven Castle).

 

He appears to have lived, if not in prison, at least in privacy, during the Regency of Morton, but was, on the November 11, 1578, restored to his former place on the bench, following a request letter from King James VI to that effect. On December 31, however, he was denounced to the Privy Council of Scotland as guilty of Darnley's murder, and orders were given for his arrest. But having been forewarned by his kinsman George Douglas of Longniddry, he fled from his wife's tower-house at Morham to England. Queen Elizabeth 1st agreed to have him returned upon the guarantee of "unsuspect judges and other persons on the assise", but this guarantee could not be given so he remained for the time being in England.

 

In May 1581, as part of the forfeiture of the Earl of Morton, it was ruled that 'That Mr. Archibald Douglas shall renounce all the right of the parsonage of Glasgow, and allow and ratify the disposition thereof made, and of his living, to the Prior of Blantyre'.

 

On November 28, 1581, he was forfeited by Act of Parliament for the murder of Lord Darnley, which, they argued, was proved by his flight to England, and the evidence of his servant Binney or Binning, who had, in June 1581, already been executed for the same crime.

 

Owing to the influence of his friend, the Master of Gray, he returned on a safe-conduct to Scotland, arriving in Edinburgh on 15 April 1586. His (nominal) trial took place on May 26, (reported at length in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials). He was acquitted. There was great uproar. To make matters worse, he was then appointed by James VI his personal Ambassador to Elizabeth 1st, a post he took up in September. While in that post it is said that he assisted the Master of Gray, William Keith, and Sir Robert Melville of Murdocairny to move Elizabeth towards clemency for Mary Queen of Scots, although Dalrymple disputes this. He was at length dismissed from this post, being succeeded by Sir Robert Melville.

 

After this nothing much appears to be known of him, although in 1601 he was sent a letter by his sister, Jean, Lady Saltcoats, seeking some of your fine London cloth as she has many lasses now come to perfection of years and ready to put to profit.

 

John Chamberlain wrote to Dudley Carleton on March 30, 1603,(2) "Archimbald Douglas the Scot that had been a dealer and juggler on both sides died here [London] likewise in a good hour before he was afraid.(3)"

 

"Mr Archibald Douglas" was buried at St Dionis Backchurch on 5 March 1603.

 

Douglas married, about 1578, (as her third husband) Janet Hepburn (d. c.1586), daughter of Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, and widow successively of John Stewart, Lord Darnley (an illegitimate son of James V) and of John Sinclair, master of Caithness. They appear to have had at least one son, John (see below). The marriage was not successful, however, and by 1581 Janet Hepburn was seeking a divorce. He remarried in 1597 Helen Lumsdan.

 

Research notes:

1.  It is suggested that a Mr. Archibald Douglas, Archdeacon of Glasgow (in that post prior to November 1596), who is mentioned in the Privy Council Registers on October 28, 1598, and again on December 4, 1599, may be the same person.  This Archibald had a son, John, who married Margaret, said to be the daughter of William Douglas, 9th of Cavers.

2.  That doesn't pinpoint his death exactly on March 30 (hard to tell when exactly Archibald died in March of that year). Interestingly, this is close to the date of death of Queen Elizabeth and at the time there was plague raging in London.

3.  'in a good hour before he was afraid' meaning: He died bravely, before fear ever touched him

 

 

Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation 

ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS, M.A., a 1571 younger son of Richard D., son of James, second Earl of Morton ; was parson of Douglas about 1560, nominated an extraordinary 13th Nov. 1565, and 2nd June 1568, an ordinary Lord of Session. Suspected of being cognisant of the murder of both Rizzio and Darnley he retired to France for nearly three years and a half, till he was permitted to return. While holding his judicial appointment, he was presented to the parsonage of G., by the regent, James, Earl of Moray. The Commissioner (Andrew Hay) refused to give him letterstestimonial, and the question came before the General Assembly in March 1570, who confirmed the decision of the Commissioner. D. appealed to the King and Council, to Parliament, to the Lords of Session, or any of them that should be found Judgecompetent. The presentation was recorded 20th Aug. 1571. The Commissioners of the Kirk, 23rd Jan. following, allowed him possession, while they decerned he should pay half yearly £100 of stipend to David Wemyss from Whitsunday 1572. A graphic account of his examination for the benefice is given in Bannatyne's Journal. He was found to have assisted the Queen's faction in April same year, and was sent prisoner to Stirling, yet restored to the bench 11th Nov. 1578. He was accused of being accessory to the death of Henry, Lord Darnley, before His Majesty and Council 31st Dec. 1580, but receiving immediate information at his residence of Morham Castle, he made his escape to England early the following morning. He was superseded in his office as a judge, and forfeited in Parliament, with others, 28th Nov. 1581 for treason. He was enabled to return in 1586, by the influence of Patrick, Master of Gray, and Randolph, the English ambassador; had letters of rehabilitation 21st, and was tried for the treasonable conspiracy and murder of Darnley, but acquitted 26th May that year, though a feeling of his guilt was generally prevalent. After this he was sent as ambassador to England, and is understood to have contributed greatly to the condemnation of the unfortunate Queen Mary. From this position also he was dismissed, by Sir Eobert Melvill, in 1587. He was, for non-residence and neglect of duty, deposed from the parsonage 13th March 1593, which he demitted 4th July 1597. He marr. 1577, Lady Jane Hepburne, widow of John, Master of Caithness. — [Brunton and Haig's Senators ; Booke of the Kirk ; Lindsay's Lives, ii. ; Scots Peerage, ii.,161 ; Acts ofParl.,\\\.; Bannatyne's Journ.; Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, i. ; Diet. Nat. Biog.]