William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton (1582 – 7 August 1648) was a grandson of the 6th Earl of Morton

William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton

William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton was the son of Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven and Margaret Erskine, a former mistress of James V of Scotland. Sir William's half-brother from his mother's liaison with the king was James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland from 1567 until his...

. He was Lord High Treasurer of Scotland

Treasurer of Scotland

The Treasurer was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland, the Privy Council of Scotland.The full title of the post was Lord High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector-General and Treasurer of the New Augmentation, formed as it was from the amalgamation of four earlier offices...

, and a zealous Royalist, who, on the outbreak of the Great Rebellion

Wars of the Three Kingdoms

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...

 in 1642, provided £100,000 for the cause by selling his Dalkeith

Dalkeith

Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the River North Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540...

 estates to the Earl of Buccleuch

Duke of Buccleuch

The title Duke of Buccleuch , formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, who was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of Scotland, England, and Ireland and who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch.Anne...

. He also expanded his other seat, Aberdour Castle

Aberdour Castle

Aberdour Castle is located in the village of Easter Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. Parts of the castle date from around 1200, making Aberdour one of the two oldest datable standing castles in Scotland, along with Castle Sween in Argyll, which was built at around the same time.The earliest part of the...

 in Fife, with a Renaissance

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

-style east wing.

Family

On 28 March 1604, he married Lady Anne Keith, a daughter of the George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal

George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal

George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and Earl Marischal. He succeeded as earl on 7 October 1581, upon the death of his grandfather, William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal....

 and they had six children:

• Lady Margaret Douglas (1610–1678), married the 1st Marquess of Argyll
  Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
  Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...
  
   and had issue.
• Lady Anne Douglas (d. 1667), married the 2nd Earl of Kinnoull and had issue.
• Robert Douglas, 8th Earl of Morton
  Robert Douglas, 8th Earl of Morton
  Robert Douglas, Earl of Morton was a Scottish nobleman and Earl of Morton. He was the son of William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton and Lady Anne Keith, daughter of George Keith, 4th Earl Marischal...
  
   (d. 1649)
• Lady Mary Douglas, married the 2nd Earl of Dunfermline
  Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline
  Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline PC , styled Lord Fyvie until 1622, was a Scottish peer.Seton the son of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline and Margaret, daughter of James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester and Lady Margaret Kerr...
  
   and had issue.
• James Douglas, 10th Earl of Morton (d. 1686)
• Lady Isabel Douglas (d. 1650), married the 2nd Marquess of Montrose and had issue.

Claimant to the earldom

John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell (c. 1586-1613), a descendant of the 3rd Earl, also claimed the earldom of Morton, but was attainted in 1609 and his rights then failed, his titles and estates being restored in 1618 to his brother Robert, with the title of Earl of Nithsdale

Earl of Nithsdale

Earl of Nithsdale was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1620 for Robert Maxwell, 9th Lord Maxwell, with remainder to heirs male. He was made Lord Maxwell, Eskdale and Carlyle at the same time...

 (1620) in lieu of Morton.

Further reading