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Index of first names

Major General Sir William Douglas, 11th of Timpendean, and of Bonjedward

 

 

 

 

William Douglas, (8 Sep 1770 -  14 Apr 1834) was the son of Archibald Douglas, 10th of Timpendean and of Bonjedward, and his wife Helen Bennett).

 

He entered the army in 1786, as ensign in the 1st Battalion of the 1st of Foot; and was appointed Lieutenant in 1789.  He served in both ranks in the West Indies.  In 1793, he raised an independent company; and afterwards exchanged into the 6th of Foot, in which corps he did duty in different quarters, and accompanied it to Ireland, where he served during the rebellion.  He was afterwards appointed to the Irish Staff, and continued thereon two years as an Assistant Quartermaster General.  

 

In July 1803 he was promoted to a majority in the 53rd, with which he did duty until 1804, when he assisted in the formation of the 98th, to which he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel.  In 1805 he went with that regiment to Nova Scotia, and was afterwards employed in command in Canada, Bermuda, and upon the coast of America.  On expedition to the Penobscot, under Lieutenant General Sir J. Sherbrook, Colonel Douglas commanded that part of the army which first landed, and which took possession of the port and town of Custine; and he continued to command a brigade during the whole of the operations connected with that expedition.  He returned to his regiment in 1815, and in 1818 the corps was disbanded.  He attained the rank of Colonel in 1813, and Major General in 1819.

 

Major-General William Douglas, from half-pay 97th Foot was on 30 Nov 1819 appointed Colonel of 2nd Royal Veterans Battalion
However, Captain Archibald McNeill, from the late 3d Royal Veteran Battalion, vice Douglas, whose appointment has not taken place. Dated 1st November 1819(1).

 

In 1810, he married Marianne Tattersall, with whom he had several children (7 or 9, depending on sources), including a son born in Cork in 1817.  He was succeeded by his son, George, who was later to sell Timpendean.

 

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1832.

 

The United Service Magazine
MEMOIRS OF GENERAL OFFICERS RECENTLY DECEASED

 

THE LATE MAJOR-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM DOUGLAS, K.C.H.

The military career of Sir William Douglas commenced in the Royals, his first commission being dated the 14th of February, 1786. He joined the first battalion of that regiment, and served with it as Ensign and Lieutenant in the West Indies.

In 1793 he raised an independent company, and subsequently exchanged into the 6th Foot, with which he served in Ireland during the whole of the rebellion, and was afterwards appointed to the Staff in that country in the capacity of Assistant-Quartermaster-General. In 1802 he obtained the Brevet rank of Major, and in 1803 the Majority of the 53d regiment. Having assisted in the levy and formation of the 98th regiment, he was appointed its Lieutenant-Colonel on its completion, his commission bearing date 22d May, 1804. In 1805 he proceeded in command of the 98th to Nova Scotia, and served with the regiment in Canada, Bermuda, and upon the coast of America.

On the expedition to Penobscot, under Lieutenant-General Sir John Sherbrook, Lieut.-Colonel Douglas, with that part of the army which first landed, took possession of the fort and town of Custine, and continued to command a brigade during the whole of the operations connected with the expedition. He returned with the regiment to Europe in 1815, and in 1818 the regiment was reduced. The Brevet rank of Colonel was conferred on him in 1813, and that of Major-General in 1819. During the same year he was appointed Colonel of the 2d Royal Veteran Battalion, raised at that period. In the course of his service, he had been severely wounded, and lately received the insignia of a Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Order.  In Major-General Sir William Douglas, the country has lost one of its most zealous servants; one that understood and performed his duty (whatever that duty might be) with decision, intelligence, and judgment. The Major-General was lineally descended from William Douglas, the celebrated Earl of Angus, from whose second son ho inherited a small patrimony in the south of Scotland; and it is remarkable, that this property has always, since the year 1300, descended from father to son.

Tall and dignified in his person, polished and refined in his manners, his countenance handsome and intellectual, the Major-General, though firm and indexible in every point of discipline and duty, in all the relations of domestic life was kind, gentle, and humane; his mind, which was powerful and manly by nature, was accomplished and highly cultivated by education. Sir William died at Kensington in April last, aged 62.

 

Notes:

1.  Note date discrepancies

 

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