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William Douglas

Biography


Birth: n/a
Death: 1786

Son of Sir William Douglas (d. 1733), 2nd Bart of Kelhead, and Helen Erskine (d. 1754), a half-sister of Boswell's mother Euphemia. Brother of John and Charles Douglas.

Life with James Boswell

Boswell met him at John Douglas' Kelhead on October 6 and 7, 1762. He described him as a catholic, "a delicate, quiet, religious creature, [who] must certainly be happy in another world, where I hope to meet him." On October 7, Douglas showed Boswell his room at Kelhead where "he has his books of devotion, and there does perform his penances and all the other rites of his severe religion. [...] We then went and took a walk. I was surprised to find him very cheerful and really facetious".

Mentioned in

William Douglas is mentioned in:

  • Journal of my Jaunt, Harvest 1762

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Did you know?

From 1777 to 1783 James Boswell was a columnist for the London Magazine, writing a total of seventy essays under the pseudonym the Hypochondriack.

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