William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus

Who was William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus?

William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus was the son of William, the 9th Earl. He was a direct descendant of King James I through his paternal grandmother, Lady Agnes Keith, a daughter of William Keith, 3rd Earl Marischal.

He studied at St. Andrews University and joined the household of the Earl of Morton. Subsequently, while visiting the French court, he became a Roman Catholic, and was in consequence, upon his return, disinherited and placed under restraint.

Nevertheless he succeeded to his father's titles and estates in 1591, and though in 1592 he was disgraced for his complicity in Lord Bothwell's plot, he was soon liberated and performed useful services as the King's Lieutenant in the north of Scotland. In July 1592, however, he was asking for help from Queen Elizabeth in a plot with Erroll and other lords against Sir John Maitland, the Chancellor, and protesting his absolute rejection of Spanish offers, but in October he signed the Spanish Blanks, and upon the discovery of this treason was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle on his return in January 1593.

He succeeded on the 13th in escaping by the help of his Countess, joining the Earls of Huntly and Erroll in the north.