James Douglas, 1st Lord Mordington
Sir James Douglas, 1st Lord Mordington (died 11 February 1656) was the second son of William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus by his spouse Elizabeth, daughter of Laurence Oliphant, 4th Lord Oliphant.
He was created, by King Charles I, a Lord of Parliament on 14 November 1641 as Lord Mordington.
William Douglas, 2nd Lord Mordington
William Douglas, 2nd Lord Mordington( 27 September 1626- after 1671) was the eldest son and heir of Sir James Douglas, 1st Lord Mordington( died 1656) by his spouse Anne, daughter of Lawrence Oliphant, 5th Lord Oliphant.
In the first parliament of King Charles II in Edinburgh in January 1661, a protest was lodged by Lord Mordington and the Earl of Hartfell on behalf of the young Earl of Angus( who became the 2nd Marquess of Douglas), that his absence( due to being under-age) should not prejudice his hereditary claim to the first vote in Parliament, to leading the van in battle, and to carrying the Crown at the riding of Parliament.
Two Dukes, Hamilton and Lennox, challenged this claim, but it was confirmed by an Order of the Privy Council in 1669.
This Lord Mordington was responsible for the rebuild of the wall and stone entrance to the burial vault containing Black Agnes.
The 2nd Lord Mordington appears to have been in debt, doubtless due to the prevailing wartime scenario in Scotland, and the disruption to agriculture, and there are a great many papers in the National Archives of Scotland in this respect.
An example( GD206/1/47) is a" Great Seal" charter of confirmation of a bond, dated 23 September 1667, by William, Lord Mordingtoun, to William Dowglas, advocate, for £ 2000 Scots and an annual rent of £ 120 Scots from the lands and barony of Chirnside and teinds thereof in the parish of Chirnsyde and sheriffdom of Berwick.
Confirmation in the register is dated 7 July 1671, by which time Lord Mordington is thought to have died.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh Sempill, 5th Lord Sempill, and had the following issue:
James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton
James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton( died 1548) was a son of John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton and a grandson of James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton and Joan of Scotland, a daughter of James I of Scotland.
He married Catherine Stewart, an illegitimate daughter of King James IV of Scotland by his mistress Marion Boyd.
The couple had three daughters; Margaret, Beatrix, and Elizabeth.
He was succeeded by his son-in- law, James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, husband of his daughter Elizabeth.
His daughter Lady Margaret Douglas married James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, who was heir presumptive to the Scottish throne after Mary, Queen of Scots prior to the birth of Queen Mary's son Prince James in 1566.
Beatrix married Robert Maxwell, 6th Lord Maxwell.
Morton's three daughters were all affected by mental ill- health.
James Douglas, 3rd Lord Mordington
James Douglas, 3rd Lord Mordington( born 1651), succeeded his father William Douglas, 2nd Lord Mordington,
It is recorded in" The Great Seal of Scotland"( charter number 294) confirmed at Edinburgh on 2 August 1662, that James Douglas, Master of Mordington, eldest son of William Douglas, 2nd Lord Mordington, acquired the estates of Nether Mordington, as well as Edrington and its castle, which occupied the lower half of the parish.
In the National Archives of Scotland( GD206/6/20) are Legal papers relative to the 20 merklands of Over and Nether Mordington in parish of Mordington, regality of Dalkeith and sheriffdom of Berwickshire, dated 1671- 1710.
In his journals, Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall relates how he went with his father to Iddingtoun in Berwickshire in September 1670, and mentions that the superior of the nearby town of Chirnside was" My Lord Mordington" who was also patron of the Kirk there.
He also said that he" saw Paxtoun and Edringtone, a part of[ Lauder of] Basses lands, and given away to a brother, now belongs to my Lord Mordington.
Saw( Over) Mordington and Nether Mordington( today Edrington House); saw the bounds road with my Lord's park.
My Lord Mordington( also) had all of Magdalene field( by the River Tweed), but he could not get it peaceably possessed for thesse of Berwick, so he sold it to Watsone."
An Inventory of the Writs in the National Archives( GD206/6/153) produced for Walter Harper in process of reduction and improbation pursued by Robert Rochead of Masterton are against the creditors of[ Lord] Mordington with the Writs( legal papers), dated 1706.
It is presumed these referred to either the estate of William Douglas, 2nd Lord Mordington, who appeared to be in debt, or the 3rd Lord, James.
( They have not been examined).
James Douglas, 3rd Lord Mordington, married Anne( b.1651) daughter of Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston by his first wife, Jean( d. August 1651), daughter of Sir George Fletcher, of the Innerpeffer family.
Their son and heir was George Douglas, 4th Lord Mordington.
George Douglas, 4th Lord Mordington
George Douglas, 4th Lord Mordington, died 10 June 1741 at Covent Garden, London, was the son and heir of James Douglas, 3rd Lord Mordington by his wife Anne, daughter of Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston.
George, Lord Mordington, is described by several authorities as a political writer.
He obtained a prominent mention in Walpole's" Royal and Noble Authors"( Parks edition, vol.v, p. 147) as the author of a work called" The Great Blessing of a Monarchical Governmentwhen fenced about with and bounded by the laws, and these laws secured and observed by the monarch".
Mordington added" that as a Popish government is inconsistent with the true happiness of these kingdoms, so great also are the miseries and confusions of anarchy.
Most humbly dedicated to His Majesty by George Douglas, Lord Mordington, London, 1724."
Two pieces against a weekly paper called the" Independent Whig" are also mentioned by Walpole as being written by Lord Mordington.
He married Catherine( d. June 1741) daughter of Dr.Robert Lauder, Rector of Shenley, Hertfordshire, by his wife Mary, née Snow.
They had three children: their son and heir: Charles Douglas, 5th Lord Mordington, a Jacobite; and two daughters:
James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith
James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith( after 1372 – before 22 May 1441) was a Scottish nobleman born in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland to Sir James Douglas and Agnes Dunbar.
James was the brother of Nicholas Douglas, 1st Lord of Mains.
Lord Dalkeith descended from Andrew Douglas of Hermiston( or" Herdmanston")( d.b. 1277), younger son of Archibald I, Lord of Douglas( fl. c. 1198 – 1238).
Andrew was succeeded by his son William Douglas of Hermiston, a signatory of the Ragman Roll in 1296.
William of Hermiston's son, James Douglas of Lothian succeeded his father and produced two sons, Sir William Douglas and Sir John Douglas.
Sir William Douglas, known as the" Knight of Liddesdale" or the" Flower of Chivalry" obtained the privileges of the barony of Dalkeith, in Midlothian, in 1341, and the barony of Aberdour, in Fife, in 1342.
Following the Flower of Chivalry's murder at the hands of his godson William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, both baronies passed to his nephew, James.
James Douglas was confirmed in this position when his title was ratified by the Earl of Douglas prior to 1370.
The lands of Dalkeith, and Aberdour, in Fife, were combined as a single barony in 1386, with the principal seat at Dalkeith Castle, and a secondary residence at Aberdour Castle.
He married Elizabeth( Princess)
Stewart, daughter of King Robert III, about the year 1387.
They had five children before she died: William, James, Henry, Janet( who married John Hamilton of Cadzow) and Margaret.
He married, as his second wife, Janet Borthwick, daughter of Sir William Borthwick, with whom he had a son named William.
Joan Stewart, Countess of Morton
Joan Stewart, Countess of Morton, also called Joanna( c. 1428 – 22 June 1493), was the daughter of James I, King of Scotland, and the wife of James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton.
She was known, in Latin, as the" muta domina"[ mute lady] of Dalkeith.
William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus
William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus (15523 March 1611) was a Scottish nobleman.
He was the son of William Douglas, 9th Earl of Angus (1533–1591).
He was a direct descendant of King James I through his paternal grandmother, Lady Agnes Keith, a daughter of William Keith, 3rd Earl Marischal.
Douglas studied at St. Andrews University and joined the household of the Earl of Morton.
Subsequently, while visiting the French court, he became a Catholic, and was in consequence, upon his return, disinherited and placed under restraint.
Nevertheless, Douglas succeeded to his father's titles and estates in 1591, and though in 1592 he was disgraced for his complicity in Lord Bothwell's plot, he was soon liberated and performed useful services as the King's Lieutenant in the north of Scotland.
In July 1592, however, he was asking for help from Queen Elizabeth in a plot with Erroll and other lords against Sir John Maitland, the Chancellor, and protesting his absolute rejection of Spanish offers, but in October he signed the Spanish Blanks, and upon the discovery of this treason was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle on his return in January 1593.
Douglas succeeded on the 13th in escaping by the help of his Countess, joining the Earls of Huntly and Erroll in the north.
They were offered an Act of "oblivion" or "abolition" provided they renounced their religion or quit Scotland.
Declining these conditions they were declared traitors and "forfeited."
They remained in rebellion, and in July 1594 an attack made by them on Aberdeen roused James's anger.
Huntly and Erroll were subdued by James himself in the north, and Angus failed in an attempt upon Edinburgh in concert with the Earl of Bothwell.
Subsequently, in 1597 they all renounced their religion, declared themselves Presbyterians, and were restored to their estates and honours.
Angus was again included in the Privy Council, and in June 1598 was appointed the King's Lieutenant in southern Scotland, in which capacity he showed great zeal and conducted the "Raid of Dumfries," as the campaign against the Johnstones was called.
Not long afterwards, Angus, offended at the advancement of Huntly to a Marquessate, recanted, resisted all the arguments of the ministers to bring him to a "better mind," and was again excommunicated in 1608.
In 1609 Douglas withdrew into exile, and died in Paris, France on 3 March 1611.
He is buried at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Douglas married Elizabeth Oliphant, a daughter of Lawrence, 4th Lord of Oliphant, in spring 1585, and they had three sons and two daughters.
His second son, James, was created Lord Mordington in 1641.
His daughter Mary was married to Alexander Livingston, 2nd Earl of Linlithgow.
From "The Scottish Nation":
Agnes Dunbar (mistress)
Agnes Dunbar( fl. late 14th century) was a mistress of King David II of Scotland, son of Robert the Bruce.
She was the niece( and possibly fosterling) of Agnes Randolph, Countess of Dunbar and March.
Her mother was Isabella Randolph, sister of Countess Agnes and daughter of Thomas Randolph, first Earl of Moray.
Her father, Sir Patrick Dunbar, was the son of Sir Alexander Dunbar and grandson of Patrick, seventh Earl of Dunbar, and his wife, Cecilia.
She was first married to a man called Robert, and they had children.
She appears to have become a mistress of King David II around 1369, as payments to her began then.
A payment of 1000 merks, a very large sum at that time, was arranged for her a month before the king died suddenly in February 1371, which indicates that he had been very likely planning to marry her.
On 21 November 1372 she married Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith.
Their son was James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith.
Their great- grandson was James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton.
Sir James Douglas, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir James Douglas, 1st Baronet( 1703 – 2 November 1787) was a Scottish naval officer and Commodore of Newfoundland.

Question: Who is the paternal grandfather of James Douglas, 1St Lord Mordington?
Answer: William Douglas, 9th Earl of Angus