Colonel Walter Douglas (1670 - 1739) gained the rank of Colonel. He
held the office of Governor-General of the Leeward Islands.
He was
one of seven sons of William Douglas of Baads
(d. 1705) and his wife,
Joan, daughter of James Mason of Park, Blantyre. One of his brothers was
the surgeon John Douglas (d. 1759), another
James, (1675-1742) a physician
and anatomist.
Walter Douglas appears to have been educated at the
University of Utrecht, which he is said to have left to join King William
of Orange when he invaded England in 1688. The Duke of Queensbury was his
patron.
His time as Governor was beset by problems resulting in
the assassination of Colonel Parke, the previous Governor, during a mutiny
triggered by his self-enriching enforcement of Stuart imperialism. He was
superseded as Governor in 1716.
Governor Douglas had been tried by
the Court of Queen's Bench and found guilty of bribery and extortion,
having exacted £10,000 from the Island of Antigua before publishing the
Queen's pardon for those involved in the killing of his predecessor. He was
sentenced to a £500 fine and five years' imprisonment, and was then in the
King's Bench Prison. His fine was remitted. At the time of his trial, he
was described as Major Douglas.
It is thought he retired to France.
In his arms, he used the Douglas heart transfixed by an arrow,
representing descent from the family of Douglas of Baads, now represented
by Viscount Chilston. In 1720 he succeeded to the estate of Baads on the
renunciation of his brother William but then sold it.
Walter
Douglas married Lady Jane St Leger, and had a son, Col. John St Leger
Douglas. Col John had a daughter, Margaret, born abt 1732 in Fife,
Scotland and who married Colonel Campbell Dalrymple, Governor of
Guadeloupe.
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