Notes:

Born in Peebles, the only son of William, second Earl of March, and his wife, Lady Anne Hamilton, he succeeded his father to the Earldom of March in 1731 and his mother to the Earldom of Ruglen in 1748.

He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1761 and was a Scottish representative peer from 1761. He was Vice Admiral of Scotland from 1767 to 1776. He was Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries from 1794 until 1810.

He succeeded his cousin Charles as Duke of Queensberry in 1778, and was created Baron Douglas of Amesbury in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1786.

A friend of the Prince of Wales, he was appointed Lord of the Bedchamber to George III in 1760. During the King's illness in 1788, Queensberry went to great lengths to assess the probability of recovery. However, he made a wrong decision, recommended a regency and supported the Prince of Wales's claim to full sovereign powers. On the King's recovery, he was dismissed on the instance of the Queen and Pitt.

Queensberry was the largest landlord in Nithsdale, and although Burns sent him a copy of The Whistle with a fulsome letter dated 24 September 1791, the poet loathed him, as is shown by these lines:

All hail, Drumlanrig's haughty Grace -
Discarded remnant of a race
Once godlike, great in story!
His forbears virtues all contrasted -
The very name of Douglas blasted
His that inverted glory!
"Hate, envy, oft the Douglas bore;
But he has superadded more
And sunk them in contempt!
Follies and crimes have stained the name,
But, Queensberry, thine the virgin claim,
From aught that's good exempt!
In 1795, the Duke stripped the woodlands around Drumlanrig Castle and Neidpath Castle in Peebleshire, to find money for a dowry for Maria Fagniani, whom he fancied was his daughter, when she married the Earl of Yarmouth. This action incurred the immediate wrath of Burns, and the later wrath of Wordsworth. Burns was said to have inscribed his Verses on the Destruction of the Woods near Drumlanrig on the back of a window shutter in an inn or toll house near the scene of the devastations. In this poem, the wandering poet meets the 'genius of the stream', and asks if the destruction has been caused by some 'bitter Eastern blasts', but is told:

'Nae eastling blast', the sprite replied,
'It blew na here sae fierce and fell,
And on my dry and halesome banks
Nae canker-worms get leave to dwell:
Man! Cruel man!' the genius sighed -
As through the cliffs he sank him down -
'The worm that gnawed my bonny trees,
That reptile wears a ducal crown'.
Queensberry was a liberal patron of Italian opera, although, it was said, more out of interest in the prima donnas and dancers than in the music. Latterly known as Old Q., he was notorious for his escapades and dissolute lifestyle and was a member of the Hellfire Club. He endeavoured to develop horse racing into a science. In later years he sold his house at Newmarket and lived at Cholmondeley House, Richmond upon Thames, where he collected pictures and objets d'art.

Finally, he was largely confirmed to his house in Mayfair (Queensberry House). In his last infirmity, he employed the former physician to Louis XV, Pere Elisee, who was to be paid a large sum for every day his patient was kept alive, but nothing from the moment he died.

Raikes, in his Journal, said of 'Old Q': He was a little sharp-looking man, very irritable, and swore like ten thousand troopers. Mackenzie, in Anecdotes and Egotisms claimed that he was a disciple of Epicurus but without the virtue of the Epicurean system; and he had none of the hypocrisy of pretending to virtue or disinterestedness.

Although he had a number of illegitimate children, he never married, and his titles were dispersed on his death. The dukedom of Queensberry, with some other titles and Drumlanrig Castle, passed to the third Duke of Buccleuch, in whose family they remain.

The earldom of March passed to his kinsman, Francis, 8th Earl of Wemyss.

Died:
Last Will: Popularly known as "Old Q," this remarkable eccentric was one of the richest men in England. When he was 84, his solicitors begged him to write his will. Instead he retired to his bed for several weeks to recover from such a horrible suggestion. At last persuaded, he began to write his will on Jan. 16, 1809, and found it such a pleasant experience that he continued adding, deleting, amending, and altering it until just a few days before his death on Dec. 23, 1810. He reveled in the delight of promising friends bequests, then a few days later cutting their names out of the will. Sleepless nights made him particularly fussy and he would alter pages, but in the morning he would cross out his corrections and keep his old bequests. At the end there were 34 codicils, and nearly everybody he ever met or knew was a beneficiary--including the Chevalier d'Eon and Emma Hamilton. The total legacy amounted to pounds 1,400,000. The one person he left out was his apothecary. Queensberry said that for every day he lived, he would pay the man well--but would not leave him an added penny in his will. The apothecary stayed by Old Q's bedside 1,215 nights and was indeed paid extremely well, but he secretly believed Old Q would also leave him something in his will. When he learned the rascally duke was faithful to his word, the irate apothecary sued--and was awarded Pound 7,500 "compensation."

Family/Spouse: Fagniani. was born about 1725; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Maria Fagniani died on 2 Mar 1856.

William + Anne (Countess Ruglen) Hamilton. Anne (daughter of John (3rd Earl of Selkirk) Douglas-Hamilton and Anne (of Cassillis) Kennedy) was born on 5 Apr 1698; died on 21 Apr 1748. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Governor of Edinburgh Castle 1702-04
cr Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Lyne and Munard, Visount Peebles and Earl of March 1697

William married Lady Jane (of Tweedale) Hay in 1693. Jane (daughter of John (1st Marquess of Tweeddale) Hay and Jane (of Buccleuch) Scott) died in 1729. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

1st Earl of Ruglen

John married Anne (of Cassillis) Kennedy before 26 Jun 1694. Anne (daughter of John (7th Earl of Cassillis) Kennedy and Susan (of Hamilton) Hamilton) and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Lady Isabel (of Douglas) Douglas in 1657. Isabel (daughter of William (1st Marquess of Douglas) Douglas and Mary (of Huntly) Gordon) was born in 1642; was christened on 21 May 1642 in Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland; died on 2 Dec 1691; was buried in Durisdeer, Dunfriesshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Jane (of Buccleuch) Scott on 24 Sep 1644. Jane (daughter of Walter (1st Earl of Buccleuch) Scott and Mary (of Erroll) Hay) was born in Jan 1628; died in Nov 1688. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

also 1st earl of Selkirk

William + Anne (Duchess of Hamilton) Hamilton. Anne (daughter of James (1st Duke of Hamilton) Hamilton and Mary Feilding) was born on 24 Dec 1632; died on 17 Oct 1716. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Susan (of Hamilton) Hamilton before 26 Dec 1688. Susan (daughter of James (1st Duke of Hamilton) Hamilton and Mary Feilding) and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]