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George Douglas, 16th Earl of Morton

 

 

 

 

George inherited the Morton earldom upon the death of his father in 1774. 

 

George Douglas, who became the 16th Earl of Morton, was born on 3 April 1761, the eldest son of Sholto Charles Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 24 February 1785 and of the Society of Antiquaries on 2 February 1786, later serving as Vice-President of the Royal Society from 26 June 1797.

Educated at Eton between 1775 and 1777, Douglas entered public life early. He sat as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1784 to 1790. On 11 August 1791 he was created Lord Douglas of Lochleven, in the Peerage of Great Britain, and took his seat in the House of Lords on 31 January 1792.

His long career in royal and civic service included his appointment as Chamberlain of the Household to Queen Charlotte, a post he held from 1792 until 1818. He served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1820 to 1824, and held the lieutenancies of Fife (1808–24) and Midlothian (1824–27). He was also the 38th Grand Master Mason of Scotland between 1790 and 1792, and was admitted to the Royal Order of Scotland on 8 January 1790.

 

The Earl was a member of the Royal Company of Archers (left).

On 13 August 1814, at Dilhorne Hall in Staffordshire, he married Susan Elizabeth Buller-Yarde-Buller (1793–1849), the elder daughter of Sir Francis Buller‑Yarde‑Buller, 2nd Baronet, and sister of John Buller‑Yarde‑Buller, later created the 1st Lord Churston.

George Douglas died at Dalmahoy, near Edinburgh, on 17 July 1827, aged 66. He left no issue, and the barony of Douglas of Lochleven became extinct. His other titles passed to his cousin, George Sholto Douglas (1789–1858), who succeeded as the 17th Earl of Morton.

 

 

See also:

The Earls of Morton

Lord Morton's Mare

Earl of Morton's Jig

 

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