James Douglas 1662-1711

James DOUGLAS, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, 1662-1711

The larger of Douglas's bookplates (British Museum Franks Collection *10)

Biographical Note

Born at Sanquhar Castle, Dumfriesshire, on 18 December 1662, the eldest son of William Douglas, third earl and first duke of Queensberry (1637–1695). Educated at Glasgow University (1676). In 1684 he was named by the privy council as one of the commissioners for the borders and sworn as a member of the new privy council. He was also made a lieutenant-colonel of the regiment of John Graham of Claverhouse.

He was one of the first Scottish leaders to support William of Orange (1688) and was subsequently appointed one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber and colonel of the sixth or Scottish troop of Horse Guards. He sat in the Scottish Parliament in 1692 as lord high treasurer and in 1696 as lord privy seal. Under Queen Anne he was one of the secretaries of state for Scotland and played a significant role in the negotiation of the treaty of union. He was rewarded with a British peerage in 1708 and created duke of Dover.

Books

Used engraved bookplates:

Franks 8891/*10 (Douglas), His Grace The Duke of Queensberry, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

Franks 8892/*13 (Douglas), The Most Noble James, Duke of Queensberry, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. (A smaller plate.) 1703.

An auction catalogue of 1813 announced that it included the libraries of James the Second Duke of Queensberry and Alexander Gibson Hunter of Blackness together with 'modern publications as well as many articles of extreme rarity and curiosity'. It is not possible to distinguish the Queensberry items.

Sources

• Gambier Howe, E. R. J. Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum. London, 1903.
• Young, John R. "Douglas, James, second duke of Queensberry and first duke of Dover (1662–1711), politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Catalogue of a valuable collection of books, including the libraries of James the Second Duke of Queensberry and Alexander Gibson Hunter of Blackness, Edinburgh, Ballantyne, 1813.