British politician
Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie
,
PC
,
KC
,
FRS
,
FRSE
,
FSA
(24 May 1743 ? 2 May 1823) was a British lawyer and politician. He was
Chief Secretary for Ireland
between 1793 and 1794.
Background, education and legal career
[
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]
He was the son of John Douglas, descended from James Douglas, minister of
Glenbervie
in
Aberdeenshire
, son of
Sir Archibald Douglas
and half-brother of
William Douglas, 9th Earl of Angus
. His mother was Margaret Gordon, daughter and co-heir of James Gordon, of Fechel.
[1]
His sister Katherine married
James Mercer
, army officer and poet.
[2]
Douglas was educated at the
University of Aberdeen
, graduating MA in 1765 and then studied both Law and Medicine at the
University of Leyden
. He was admitted to
Lincoln's Inn
in
London
in 1771, was
called to the Bar
in 1776 and became
King's Counsel
in 1793.
[3]
Political career
[
edit
]
The same year he was appointed a King's Counsel Douglas gave up his legal career on his appointment as
Chief Secretary for Ireland
under
William Pitt the Younger
.
[4]
In 1794 he was admitted to both the
Irish
[5]
and
English Privy Council
[6]
and returned to the
Irish House of Commons
for
St Canice
,
[7]
a seat he held until 1796. In 1795 he was elected to the
British House of Commons
for
Fowey
.
[8]
He later represented
Midhurst
between 1796 and 1800,
[9]
Plympton Erle
between 1801 and 1802
[10]
and
Hastings
between 1802 and 1806.
[11]
He was asked to accompany
Earl Macartney
to the
Cape of Good Hope
in 1796 and, after 18 months there, to succeed him as governor. His wife did not like the idea and he declined the offer, even though an Irish peerage had also been offered.
[12]
In 1797 Douglas was made a
Lord of the Treasury
by Pitt,
[13]
In 1800 Douglas was asked for a second time to go to the Cape as governor.
[14]
He finally agreed in October 1800, again for an
Irish peerage
and was so appointed
Governor of the Cape of Good Hope
,
[15]
Douglas changed his mind again and accepted a post as Joint Paymaster of HM Forces, subsequently receiving £2731. 10s. in salary, paid from the Cape Treasury, even though he never went there.
[16]
At the end of the year on 29 November 1800 he was created
Baron Glenbervie
, of Kincardine, in Scotland.
[17]
After serving as joint
Paymaster of the Forces
between 1801 and 1803
[18]
and
Vice-President of the Board of Trade
between 1801 and 1804,
[19]
he was
Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases
between 1803 and 1806
[20]
and 1807 and 1810. On the office of the
Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown
being combined with the former in 1810, became the
First Commissioner of Woods and Forests
, the head of the new department. He held the office until 1814.
Personal life
[
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]
In 1789 Lord Glenbervie married
Lady Catherine Anne
, eldest daughter of
Frederick North, Lord North
.
[21]
Their only son
Frederick Douglas
sat as Member of Parliament for
Banbury
between 1812 and his early death in 1819.
[22]
Lady Glenbervie died in February 1817, aged 56. Glenbervie survived her by six years and died in May 1823, aged 79. As he had no surviving male issue the barony became extinct on his death.
[21]
His library was sold by R. H. Evans in London in two parts, on 13 June 1823 (and seven following days) and 5 July 1823 (and six following days; copies of the catalogue are at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.126(11) and Munby.c.126(13)).
In 1795 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
of London
[23]
and in 1806 elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
, when his proposers were
Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank
, Gilbert Innes and
John Playfair
.
[24]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
A Biographical Peerage of the Empire of Ireland
. London, 1817.
- ^
Robinson, Roger J. "Mercer, James (bap. 1734, d. 1804)".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/18572
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
"No. 13500"
.
The London Gazette
. 5 February 1793. p. 107.
- ^
leighrayment.com Peerage: Gage to Glendale
[usurped]
- ^
leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors ? Ireland
[usurped]
- ^
"No. 13652"
.
The London Gazette
. 6 May 1794. p. 410.
- ^
leighrayment.com Irish House of Commons 1692?1800
[usurped]
- ^
leighrayment.com House of Commons: Fairfield to Fylde South
[usurped]
- ^
leighrayment.com House of Commons: Mayo to Minehead
[usurped]
- ^
leighrayment.com House of Commons: Plymouth to Putney
[usurped]
- ^
leighrayment.com House of Commons: Haslemere to Herefordshire
[usurped]
- ^
Thorpe, History of Parliament online, Sylvester Douglas
- ^
"No. 13974"
.
The London Gazette
. 24 January 1797. p. 75.
- ^
George McCall Theal,
Records of the Cape Colony
, Vol. III, Cape Town: Gov’t of the Cape Colony, 1898, p. 408.
- ^
"No. 15332"
.
The London Gazette
. 27 January 1801. p. 125.
- ^
Theal,
Records
Vol. III, p. 491
- ^
"No. 15326"
.
The London Gazette
. 10 January 1801. pp. 39?40.
- ^
"No. 15346"
.
The London Gazette
. 17 March 1801. p. 306.
- ^
"No. 15428"
.
The London Gazette
. 17 November 1801. p. 1383.
- ^
"No. 15547"
.
The London Gazette
. 4 January 1803. p. 34.
- ^
a
b
thepeerage.com Sylvester Douglas, 1st and last Baron Glenbervie
- ^
Catalogue of the papers of Frederick Sylvester North Douglas at www.bodley.ox.ac.uk
- ^
"Fellows details"
. Royal Society
. Retrieved
23 May
2016
.
- ^
Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783?2002
(PDF)
. The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006.
ISBN
0-902-198-84-X
.
External links
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