Margaret (Mar) Douglas Countess of Mar (bef. 1333 - bef. 1393)

Born before May 1333 in Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 22 Nov 1393 at about age 60 in Scotland

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Margaret (Mar) Douglas Countess of Mar was a prominent member of a Scottish Clan. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Family

Margaret was the only daughter of Donald Mar, earl of Mar, and Isabel Stewart.^[1] She had one older brother, Thomas, who succeeded their father.^[2] The exact date of her birth is unknown, but had to have been before May 1333 (as her father died at Dupplin Moor on 12 August 1332)^[3] and may have been several years earlier than that.

Marriage to William Douglas

She married, sometime before 13 November 1357 (when she is mentioned in a charter by David II), William Douglas, the second (but only surviving) son of Archibald Douglas, Knt. of Liddesdale, Regent of Scotland, and Beatrice de Lindsay^[1][4][5][6] Margaret brought to the marriage (as her marriage portion from her brother, the earl of Mar) the barony of Drumlanrig.^[5] There were two children from this marriage:

• James Douglas, 2nd earl of Douglas and Mar; born c.1358;^[7] married after 21 September 1371 (date of dispensation) Isabel Stewart;^[8] died c.12 August 1388^[9][7]
• Isabel Douglas; married (1) before August 1388 Malcolm Drummond;^[10][11] married (2) c.1404 Alexander Stewart^[10][11]

In 1374 Margaret was heiress to her brother Thomas, earl of Mar, Lord of Garioch, and became suo jure countess of Mar. Her husband almost immediately began to style himself as Earl of Douglas and Mar.^[12][13][14]

William Douglas, 1st earl Douglas, died of a fever at Douglas during May 1384 and was buried at Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland.^[1][6][15] After her husband's death and during the lifetime of her son, James (who also predeceased her), Margaret styled herself "Countess of Douglas, Lady of Mar and of Garioch."^[16]

Marriage to John de Swinton

Margaret married (second) sometime before 27 July 1388, as his first wife, John de Swinton, Knt. of Swinton.^[1][14] Swinton did not use the title of earl (by right of his wife) but was styled simply "Lord of Mar."^[14] There were no children from this marriage.^[1][14]

Death

The date of Margaret's death is unknown but likely to have occurred sometime before 22 November 1393, when her daughter Isabel was styled Countess of Mar.^[1][14] John Swinton died at Homildon Hill 14 September 1402.^[1][14]

Research Notes

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families,5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author (2013), vol. 3, p. 151 GROBY 8.ii.b.William de Douglas
2. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1906), vol. 5, p. 583.
3. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1906), vol. 5, p. 582.
4. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 3, pp. 153-155.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Fraser, Sir William. The Douglas Book. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable (1885), vol. 1, p. 287.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Cokayne, George Edward. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. London: St Catherine Press (1910), vol. 4, p. 431.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Johnston, George Harvey, The Heraldry of the Douglases : with Notes on all the Males of the Family, Descrptions of the Arms, Plates and Pedigrees, Edinburgh: W & A K Johnston (1907), pp. 14-15 .
8. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 3, p.157.
9. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 3, p.156.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 3, pp.153-154.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Fraser, Sir William. The Douglas Book. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable (1885), vol. 1, p. 288.
12. ↑ Mackay, Aeneas James George. Douglas, William. Dictionary of National Biography archive edition, available here.
13. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 3, p.152.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1906), vol. 5, p. 585.
15. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 3, p.153.
16. ↑ Robertson, Joseph. Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff. Aberdeen: Spalding Club (1847), vol. 4, pp. 724-725.

See Also:

• Brown, M.H. Douglas, William, first earl of Douglas and earl of Mar. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription.

• Cawley, Charles. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy online database, "Scotland Earls" (2021), Donald of Mar.