William Douglas

William Douglas of Whittingehame (c. 1540 – 17 December 1595) was a Senator of the College of Justice at Edinburgh, and a Royal conspirator. Family William Douglas was the eldest son and heir of William Douglas of Whittingehame (died bef. 24 August 1557) and his spouse Elizabeth (d. after 24 August 1557), daughter of Sir Robert Lauder of The Bass (d.1517/18) by his spouse, Elizabeth Lawson. The Douglases of Whittingehame near Haddington, East Lothian, had held the estate from before the 1500s. Career He obtained, following the Scottish Reformation, on 17 August 1560 a charter of the ecclesiastical lands at Whittingehame from Claud Hamilton, then Dean of Dunbar. This grant included "8 husbandlands (208 acres) and four 'terras' cottages in the 'villa' of Whittinghame". He joined the Lords of the Congregation and seems to have been frequently employed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in their communications with Mary, Queen of Scots and the Privy Council of Scotland.