Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas

Who was Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas?

Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas was a Scottish nobleman.

He was the second son of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas, by his second marriage. His elder brother, William, died in infancy in 1694, and Archibald was thereafter styled Earl of Angus.

Douglas succeeded his father in 1700, and on 10 April 1703, was created Duke of Douglas, Marquess of Angus and Abernethy, Viscount of Jedburgh Forest, and Lord Douglas of Bonkill, Prestoun, and Robertoun. The bearer of the Crown of Scotland on state occasions, he conveyed it to Edinburgh Castle after the closing of the last Parliament of Scotland.

During the Jacobite rising of 1715, Douglas took the Hanoverian side, and led the volunteer horse at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. In maturity, Douglas grew eccentric, and perhaps insane, marrying Margaret of Mains; he slew Captain John Kerr at Douglas Castle, while the latter was guesting with him there, and was forced to flee for some time to Holland. His residence of Douglas Castle was plundered by Highlanders during the Rising of 1745.

He fell out with his sister, Lady Jane Douglas, when he discovered her secret marriage to John Stewart of Grantully, and treated her with great cruelty. In 1755, Douglas Castle burned, and he hired Robert Adam to rebuild it, although the work was never finished, being halted by the Duke's death. The Duke married Margaret Douglas in 1758, who succeeded in reconciling him with Archibald, his nephew by Lady Jane. Ultimately, the Duke was persuaded to entail his estates upon Archibald, a decision which led to the celebrated Douglas Cause upon his death, when the Duke of Hamilton and his kin unsuccessfully contested Archibald's legitimacy.