John St Leger Douglas

Profile & Legacies Summary

1732 - 1783

Biography

John St Leger Douglas of Springfield Place, nr. Chelmsford, Essex, MP for Hindon 1768-1774 and Weobley 1774-23/05/1783, 1st son of John of the West Indies, grandson of Col. Walter Douglas of Baads and brother of Sir James Douglas bart. (q.v.), slave-owner on St Kitts.

Adm. Fell.-Com. (age 17) at TRINITY, Oct. 22, 1748. S. of John, of St Christopher's, West Indies. School, Westminster. M.P. for Hindon, Wilts., 1768-74; for Weobley, Herefordshire, 1774-83. Died May 23, 1783. (A. B. Beaven.)
Will of John St Leger Douglas of Pall Mall proved 21/07/1783. In the will, after monetary legacies including £6000 each to his daughters Mary Willett and Charlotte [Douglas], he left his unnamed estates in St Kitts and the enslaved people on them in trust for the use of his son William Douglas.

Please note that the association of John St Leger Douglas with the Douglas estate on St Kitts and the Chancery suit of Neave v Douglas into which the compensation was paid remains tentative.

Sources

History of Parliament online

Ancestry.com, Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database online]
PROB 11/1110/314.

Further Information

Absentee?

British/Irish

Spouse

(2) Caroline Otway

School

Westminster

University

Trinity College, Cambridge [1748- ]

Occupation

Politician and plantation owner

Associated Claims (2)

Associated Estates (1)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

SD - Association Start Date
SY - Association Start Year
EA - Earliest Known Association
ED - Association End Date
EY - Association End Year
LA - Latest Known Association

Tenant-in-tail or Remainderman

Douglas or Pensez-y-Bien [ St Kitts | St Peter Basseterre ]

Legacies Summary

Physical (1)

Gardens

Springfield Place [Purchased]

Details

description →

John St Leger Douglas bought Springfield Place (which had been rebuilt by a previous owner), then 'laid out the adjoining grounds with elegance and taste, and rendered it a commodious and handsome...