George Douglas, 13th Earl of Morton

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George Douglas, 13th Earl of Morton (* 1662 - 4 January 1738 ) was a Scottish nobleman and politician from the House of Douglas .

Life

Douglas was born in 1662 to the fourth son of James Douglas, 10th Earl of Morton . In 1685 he was charged with murder when he killed his opponent in battle after defamation. The court followed Douglas' remarks on an act of self-defense and acquitted him. He then embarked on a military career and in 1685 held the rank of lieutenant . In 1688 he served in the 7th Hussar Regiment with the rank of captain . In 1709, Douglas ended his military engagement as a major . From 1733 until his death in 1738 he was installed as Vice Admiral of Scotland .

Douglas was married twice. The first marriage resulted in a son and the second, married before 1702, had three sons. On January 22, 1730, George Douglas succeeded his late brother Robert as the 13th  Earl of Morton . After his death in 1738, his son James inherited the title of Earl of Morton. His son Robert later also became a politician.

Political career

Like his brother James , George Douglas was a supporter of James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry . For the first time he was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1702 as a member of the borough of Kirkwall . He lost his parliamentary seat in 1707 when the Scottish Parliament was dissolved by the Act of Union . In 1708 he was elected to the British House of Commons for the first time . From 1708 to 1713 and 1715 to 1722 he was an MP for the Borough of Linlithgow and from 1713 to 1715 and from 1722 to 1730 as a Member of the House of Commons for Orkney and Shetland .

Like his brother Alexander , who represented the constituency of Orkney and Shetland from 1708 to 1713, George Douglas was largely inactive in parliament. As a result of the decisions to raise a malt tax by the British parliament, which was dominated by English representatives, which were unfavorable for Scotland , Douglas was one of those Scottish representatives who supported a boycott and the dissolution of the Act of Union. He is usually considered a Whigs , although he also occasionally voted with the Tories . When his brother Robert in 1730, George Douglas followed this as Earl of Morton. In the same year he was elected as representative peer in the British House of Lords , which he had to give up his mandate. In 1734 Douglas was not re-elected.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e DOUGLAS, Hon. George (1662-1738) at historyofparliamentonline.org
  2. ↑ James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton on thepeerage.com , accessed August 12, 2015.
  3. ^ Colonel Robert Douglas on thepeerage.com , accessed August 20, 2015.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Robert Douglas Earl of Morton
1730-1738 		James Douglas
personal data
SURNAME Douglas, George, 13th Earl of Morton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Douglas, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobleman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 1662
DATE OF DEATH January 4, 1738