| Authorised form of name | Douglas; James (1702 - 1768); 14th Earl of Morton |
| Dates | 1702 - 1768 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Date of birth | 1702 |
| Place of death | Chiswick, Middlesex |
| Date of death | 12 October 1768 |
| Research field | Astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
MA (1722, King's College, Cambridge)
Career:
Founder, and first President, of the Philosophical (later Royal) Society of Edinburgh. Imprisoned, with his wife and child, in the Bastille for three months (1746) but allowed to return to England (1747); Lord Clerk Register of Scotland (1760); one of the first Trustees of the British Museum
Honours:
KT 1738
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 19/04/1733 |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
PRS 1764-1768; VP 1763-1764 |
| Relationships | Son of George, 13th Earl of Morton, and his second wife Frances, daughter of William Adderley of Kent; married 1) Agatha, daughter of James Halyburton; their son was Sholto Charles Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton (FRS 1754); 2) Bridget Heathcote; grandfather of George Douglas, 16th Earl of Morton (FRS 1785) |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
References:
David Philip Miller, 'The "Hardwicke Circle": the Whig Supremacy and its Demise in the 18th-Century Royal Society' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 73-91
Notes:
From the Journal Book, 19 April 1733: Lord Aberdowe son to the Earl of Morton, was proposed by Mr Hadley, and also recommended by Lord D'arcy and Mr Wray, and being put to the ballot was elected Fellow
Bulloch's Rollstates that he 'was apparently styled Lord Aberdour 1730-1738, he succeeded to the Peerage 1738 being a "nobleman of distinguished abilities as well as of eminent learning" '. |
| Code | NA7826 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| AB/1/2/1/104 | Audit at Lord Morton's house | 28 November 1767 |
| AB/1/2/2/5 | Letter to James West from Lord Morton | 22 November 1765 |
| AB/1/2/1/106 | Letter from Lord Morton, Brook Street to James West | 8 December 1767 |
| AB/1/2/1/66 | Letter from James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, Brook Street to James West | 6 October 1764 |
| AB/1/2/1/105 | Letter from Lord Morton, Brook Street to James West, Kings Street, Covent Garden | 1 December 1767 |
| DM/1/104 | Bill for the payment by the Earl of Morton (for Royal Society) to Thomas Chippendale | 10 March 1767 |
| DM/1/109 | Agreement between the Earl of Morton and Messrs Davis & Reymers concerning the sale of spare copies of the 'Philosophical Transactions' | 25 July 1766 |
| L&P/4/188 | Letter, 'Of rainfall' from William Borlase to James Douglas | 31 December 1763 |
| L&P/4/371 | Paper, 'Of Blakey's steam-engine' from James Ferguson to James Douglas | 19 March 1767 |
| L&P/4/185 | Letter, 'Of lime-tree bark' from Reverend Bryce to James Douglas | 11 January 1764 |
| L&P/4/261 | Letter, 'Of improving the harbours and inland navigation of Great Britain' from C Holmes to James Douglas | 12 March 1765 |
| L&P/4/208 | Letter, 'Of the solar elipse of April 1' from Edward Spry to James Douglas | 12 April 1764 |
| L&P/4/189 | Letter, 'Barometer readings' from Robert Wardale to James Douglas | 27 October 1763 |
| L&P/5/77 | Letter, 'On ague' from Ham Stacey to James Douglas | 13 January 1769 |
| L&P/4/314 | Letter, 'Of the petrified trees at Gilsland' from J Farish to James Douglas | 30 January 1766 |
| L&P/4/316 | Letter, 'Of a comet observed at Kirknewton' from Alexander Bryce to James Douglas | 11 April 1766 |
| L&P/4/376 | Letter, 'Of swallowing a plum-stone' from Alexander Powell to James Douglas | 5 February 1767 |
| L&P/4/147 | Letter, 'Send specimens of newspaper from a plant called Bayssus filamentis plumosis volantibus' from Alexander Dick to James Duncan | 21 February 1763 |
| L&P/5/3 | Letter, 'The eruption of Mount Vesuvius of 1767' from William Hamilton to James Douglas | 29 December 1767 |
| L&P/5/27/1 | Letter, 'A medical case' from Giuseppe Benvenuti to James Douglas | 1768 |
| L&P/4/304 | Letter, 'On the double horns of the rhinoceros' from James Parsons to James Douglas | 1766 |
| L&P/4/354 | Letter, 'Of two Parthian coins' from John Swinton to James Douglas | 20 June 1766 |
| L&P/5/54 | Letter, 'Of astronomical observations at Ewetzingen in 1767-8' from Christian Mayer to Charles Morton and James Douglas | 1768 |
| L&P/4/299 | Letter, 'On electricity in medicine' from unknown author to James Douglas | 28 January 1766 |
| L&P/4/213 | Letter, 'Astronomical observations' from Christian Mayer to James Douglas | 3 May 1764 |
| L&P/4/338 | Letter, 'Of measuring the velocity of the wind' from Alexander Bryce to James Douglas | 13 May 1766 |
| L&P/4/384 | Letter, 'Eruption of Mount Vesuvius' from William Hamilton to James Douglas | 3 February 1767 |
| RBO/18/32 | 'An Abstract of a Book intitled: A short account of Mortifications, and the surprizing effect of the Bark in putting a Stop to their progress etc by John Douglas, Surgeon' | 1732 |
| L&P/4/352 | Letter, 'Of Coluber cerastes, the horned viper of Egypt' from John Ellis to James Douglas | 1766 |
| L&P/4/253 | Letter, 'Of an improved barometer' from Edward Spry to James Douglas | 28 February 1765 |
| L&P/4/348 | Letter, 'Of the eclipse of 1765' from Emanuel Croy to James Douglas | 9 April 1766 |
| L&P/4/393 | Letter, 'Of a Parthian coin' from John Swinton to James Douglas | 25 April 1767 |