William Douglas, 9th Earl of Morton

William Douglas, Earl of Morton (died before 1 November 1681) was a Scottish nobleman and Earl of Morton.

He was the son of Robert Douglas, 8th Earl of Morton, and Anne Villiers. He succeeded as the 9th Earl of Morton on 12 November 1649.

William tried to preserve the grant of the Islands of Orkney and Zetland which had been given to his grandfather, Sir William, 7th Earl of Morton. The wadset (a loan masked as a sale of land under right of reversion) of the Lordship had been set aside, and annexed to the Commonwealth in 1657.[1] On the Restoration, he obtained a new grant, which confirmation was ratified by Parliament in 1661. However, this too was pronounced null and void, and the islands were vested in the Crown by Act of Parliament on 17 December 1669.[1][2] Thenceforward the Earls of Morton held these islands under a form of mortgage from the Crown.

On 9 September 1672 he resigned the Barony of Dalkeith in favour of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. The estate of Dalkeith and other lands, to the total value of £100,000 Scots yearly rental,[3] had been sold circa 1643 to Buccleuch to enable the 7th Earl meet his expenses supporting the King.

William married Lady Grizel Middleton, daughter of John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton, in 1662. Their only son, Charles, Lord Dalkeith, died in infancy in 1663.[3] William died in 1681 leaving no heir, passing the Earldom to his uncle, James Douglas, 10th Earl of Morton, who was the son of William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton and Lady Anne Keith.

Notes

Sinclair, Fiona. "THE EARLDOM OF ORKNEY AND LORDSHIP OF ZETLAND". fionamsinclair.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
"The Laws and Acts of the Second Parliament of Our High and Dread Sovereign, Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Scotland, England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Begun at Edinburgh, the 19. of October, 1669" (Heirs of Andrew Andreson, 1679) p. 28
Maxwell, Herbert Eustace (1902). A history of the house of Douglas from the earliest times down to the legislative union of England and Scotland. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. London, Freemantle.

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[Sinclair_2018-1] Sinclair, Fiona. "THE EARLDOM OF ORKNEY AND LORDSHIP OF ZETLAND". fionamsinclair.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2018.

[2] "The Laws and Acts of the Second Parliament of Our High and Dread Sovereign, Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Scotland, England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Begun at Edinburgh, the 19. of October, 1669" (Heirs of Andrew Andreson, 1679) p. 28

[Maxwell_1902-3] Maxwell, Herbert Eustace (1902). A history of the house of Douglas from the earliest times down to the legislative union of England and Scotland. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. London, Freemantle.