Alexander Douglas (politician)

Sir Alexander Douglas of Eagleshay († January 1718 ) was a Scottish laird and politician.

family

He came from a branch line of the Douglas family and was the firstborn son of William Douglas of Spynie . From the estate of his mother, Marjorie Mentieth, he became lord of the Eagleshay island . On April 12, 1685 he married Janet Scot († after 1718), widow of Alexander Cruickshanks of Waristoun. With her he had a son and heir named George Douglas.

Political career

He was a member of the Scottish Parliament from around 1702 . He was neutral to the efforts of James Douglas-Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton to prevent the union between the kingdoms of England and Scotland and voted in 1707 for the Act of Union . In recognition of his loyalty, he was made a Knight Bachelor in 1707 and was one of the first Scottish MPs to be delegated to the new British House of Commons . In the first British general election in 1708, he was elected to the House of Commons as the representative of the newly created constituency of Orkney and Shetland . Not a single speech is documented by him in the British Parliament and it is doubtful whether he ever attended a session of Parliament during this electoral term , also against the background of the high travel costs to Parliament in Westminster . He is only recorded on a voting list for the impeachment of Henry Dingverell.

Presumably thanks to the intercession of his patron and distant relative, James Douglas, 11th Earl of Morton , he was given the economically lucrative office of treasurer of the estates of the dissolved Diocese of Orkney in 1710 . Although there was resentment due to his proximity to the Earl of Morton, who had ownership claims on the Orkney Islands , Douglas was elected for another term in the 1710 general election. In order to financially enable the relatively poor Douglas to be present in the House of Commons, he was promised compensation payments. However, there was no payout and Douglas stayed away from several important votes. He did not run for the general election in 1713. Instead, he supported the election of the Hon. George Douglas , a nephew of the 11th Earl of Morton and later 13th Earl.

Literature and web links

• David Wilkinson: DOUGLAS, Sir Alexander (d.1718), of Egilsay, Orkney. In: Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley, David W. Hayton (Eds.): The History of Parliament. The House of Commons 1690-1715. Volume 3, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Alphabetical Index of MPs since 1660 , at Leigh Rayment's Peerage