1611 - 1662 (51 years)
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Name |
Robert of Douglas |
Prefix |
Count |
Birth |
17 Mar 1611 |
Gender |
Male |
Death |
28 May 1662 |
Person ID |
I9150 |
My Genealogy |
Last Modified |
19 Aug 2013 |
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Notes |
- The Boy from Standingstone
On March 17th 1611 a boy was born on the estate of Standingstone in East Lothian. His parents were Patrick Douglas of Dalkeith and Christina Leslie, daughter of Andreas Davidson Leslie, Baron of Zinerdivat, and his wife Anna Bruce. Patrick Douglas's elder brother was Sir William Douglas of Whittinghame, Lord of the Session during Mary Stuart's reign. His wife had been Elizabeth Maitland, daughter of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington.
Standingstone was probably only an outlying farm under Whittinghame and it is uncertain whether Patrick Douglas leased it from his elder brother or only worked it for him. But Patrick and Elizabeth seem to have been rather poor and to have had difficulty in giving their many children - four sons and five daughters - an education befitting their social standing. This explains why the eldest son, William, entered the French army at an early age and why the second son went to sea. At least three of the daughters seem to have married.
But the rich uncle at Whittinghame seems to have taken a fancy to his youngest nephew, Robert, because he took him to Whittinghame and brought him up together with the two sons of his relative William Douglas, Earl of Angus. He also sent him to school, probably to the High School in Edinburgh.
Robert's father, Patrick, died in 1626 when Robert was 15 years old.
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