Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 5.djvu/388

This page needs to be proofread.
386
MORTON.

XIII. 1715.

12. ROBERT (DOUGLAS), EARL OF MORTON, &c. [S.], br. and h.; suc. to the peerage [S.], 10 Dec. 1715. He is said to have been "a man of parts, honour, and probity, peculiarly well versed in the knowledge of the antiquities of his country.[1] He d. um. at Edinburgh, 22 Jan. 1730. and was bur. in the Abbey church there. Funeral entry in Lyon office.

XIV. 1730. 13. GEORGE (DOUGLAS), EARL OF MORTON, &c. [S.], yst. and only surv. br. and h., b. 1662; was sometime in the army, rising to the rank of Colonel. He was M.P. for Kirkwall in the last Parl. of Scotland, 1702-07, supporting the Union [S.] and being subsequently M.P. [G.B.] for Wick Burghs, 1708-10; for Linlithgow Burghs (in two Parls.), 1708-13, and again, 1715-22, and for Orkney and Shetland, 1713-15, and again (in two Paris, 1722, till he suc. to the peerage [S] on 22 Jan. 1730. REP. PEER [S], 1730-34; Vice Admiral [S.], 1733-38. He m. firstly (-), da. of (−) MUBHEAD, of Linhonse, co, Edinburgh, He m. secondly, before 1702, Frances, da. of William ADDERLEY, of Halstow, Co. Kent. He d. at Edinburgh, 4 Jan, 1738, in his 77th year, and was bur. in the Greyfriars there,

XV. 1738. 14. JAMES (DOUGLAS), EARL OF MORTON, 1st surv, s. and h., by second wife; b. 1702 or 1703, was, apparently, styled Lord ABERDOUR,[2] 17:30-38; suc. to the peerage [S.], 4 Jan 1738, being a nobleman of distinguished abilities as well as of eminent learning,"[3] K.T., 1738; REP. PEER [S.]. 12 May 1739 till his death, some 30 years later. Being in France in 1746, he (with his wife and child) were (for some mayowed cause) imprisoned 3 months in the Bartile, but allowed to return to England, 3 May 1747. Lord Clerk Register [S.], 1760-67; a Trustee of the British Museum, and President of the Royal Society, 764-68. By act of Parl, 1742, he obtained the absolute Lordship of Orkney and Zetland, but disposed of the same in 1766, for £63,000 to the Dundas family.[4] He m. firstly, before 1731, Agatha, da, and h. of James HALYBURTON, of Picteur, co, Forfar. She d. in the Canongate Edinburgh, 11 Dec. 1718, and was bur. the 17th at the Abbey church, Holyrood Funeral entry in Lyon office. He m. secondly, 31 July 1755, at her father's house, St. James' square, St. James' Westm, Bridget, 1st da, of Sir John Heathcote, 21 Bart., of Normanton, co, Rufland, by Bridget, da. of John WHITE, of Wallingwells, Notts. He d. at Chiswick, Midx., 12 Oct. 1768, in his G6th year. Will pr. 1769. His widow, who survived him 37 years, d. 2 March 1805, aged 82, in Lower Brook street. Will pr. 1805.

XVI. 1768. 15. SHOLTO CHARLES (DOUGLAS), EARL OF MORTON, &c. [S.], 2d[5] but 1st surv. s. and h., b. 1732; was, apparently, styled LORD

ABERDOUR, 1738-68; raised a corps of Light Dragoons in 1759, of which he was Capt. Commandant; was one of the Lords of Police from 1760 till his death; suc. to the peerage [S.], 12 Oct. 1768. He m. 19 Nov. 1758, at Edinburgh, Katherine, 4th da. and coheir of the Hon. John HAMILTON (2d 8. of Thomas, 6th EARL OF HADDINGTON [S.]), by Margaret, da. of Sir John HOME, Bart. [S.], of Blackaddler. He d. 25 Sep. 1774, aged 42, at Taormina, in Sicily. Will pr. July 1775. His widow, who was b. Dec. 1736, d. 25 April 1823. Will pr. 1823.

  1. ↑ (a) Wood's "Douglas." Macky, in his "Characters," says of him, when 55 years old, that he "is very fair, sanguine complexioned, well shaped, taller than the ordinary size; was zealous for the Revolution and always a follower of the Duke of Queensberry, of no great capacity but for the ladies, and With been famous that way," With respect to this way (in which he was thus famous) see Luttrell's "Diary" (vol. v, 431), as to his trial in June 1704 "at the Old Bailey for a rape," of which, however, he was acquitted, "the proscention being looked on as malicious."
  2. ↑ (b) See p. 385, note "b."
  3. ↑ (c) Wallace, 375, as quoted in Wood's "Douglas."
  4. ↑ (d) Under the act for abolishing heritable jurisdictions in 1747 he obtained £7,147 for the office of Steward and Justiciar of Orkney and Zetland, besides £93 for the regality of Aberdour.
  5. ↑ (e) Charles, his elder br., who was b. 7 April 1731, d. young, apparently before 1738 at which date his father suc. to the peerage.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.