William Douglas

Brigadier-General William Douglas (1688–1747), of Kirkness, Kinross, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1722. Early life Descended from the Earls of Morton, William Douglas was the eldest son of Sir Robert Douglas of Kirkness by Jean, daughter of John Balfour, 3rd Lord Balfour of Burleigh, widow of George Oliphant of Gask, Perth. Career Douglas was elected Member of Parliament for Kinross-shire as a Whig at the 1715 general election. As an alternating seat, the constituency was not represented at the 1722 general election. No votes of his are recorded, nor did he stand again. First commissioned in 1709, Captain Douglas joined Croft's Light Dragoons from which, in 1720, he was appointed to the Coldstream Guards.