Sir James Douglas, 1st Baronet

Admiral Sir James Douglas, 1st Baronet (1703 – 2 November 1787) was a Scottish naval officer and Commodore of Newfoundland.

Naval career Douglas became a captain in the Royal Navy in 1744. In 1745 he commanded HMS Mermaid at Louisbourg and in 1746 he commanded HMS Vigilante at Louisbourg. He then served as a Member of Parliament for Orkney & Shetland from 1754 to 1768.

In 1757 Douglas served as a member of the court-martial which tried and convicted Admiral Byng and was commander of the squadron which captured Dominica in 1761.

Promoted to vice-admiral in 1770, he became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, in 1774 and was then promoted to admiral in 1778. In 1786 he was made a Baronet, of Maxwell, Roxburgh Baronetcy. This Douglas line descended from the Douglas of Cavers branch of the family, and were lawyers and merchants. They took the title Douglas of Friarshaw from the original seat of the family in the parish of Lilliesleaf.

Douglas was twice married: first in 1753 to Helen (d. 1766), daughter of Thomas Brisbane of Brisbane in Ayrshire; the couple had four sons, including Admiral James Douglas and three daughters. His second wife was Lady Helen Boyle, daughter of John Boyle, 2nd Earl of Glasgow, and Helenor, née Morison.

Sir George Douglas, 2nd Baronet, was a captain in the 25th Regiment of Foot and later commanded the Kelso Volunteers. He sold the old estate of Friarshaw in 1788 and became MP for Roxburgh.