Double Douglas

Gaelic Name: Dubhghlas
How to pronounce Dubhghlas

Ancient Douglas Tartan

Motto: Jamais arriere (Never behind)
Lands: Lanarkshire, Galloway, Dumfriesshire and Angus
Origin of Name: Place name, Lanark (Black stream)

The earliest recorded Douglas seems to be William of Douglas, whose name appears as a witness to charters between 1175 and 1211 around Lanarkshire


Surprise, surprise! I found a Douglas line on my maternal side. My 7th Great Grandmother through my maternal grandfather's side is a Douglas.
That makes any descendants of Mary Sandra ... a Double Douglas!

I was able to trace Elisabeth Douglas (1668-1714) back to the Good Sir James Douglas.   He was the greatest Captain under Robert the Bruce(1274-1329) in the War of Independence and is held as the third of Scotland’s finest patriots only after Bruce and William Wallace (1272-1305) of Braveheart fame.

The Douglas Clan history listed at  ScotClans

During these times the house of Douglas had expanded in its power and properties enormously. He was killed by the Moors of Spain in 1330 while attempting to reach the Holy Lands, where his King, Robert, had requested on his deathbed that his heart be buried.

His son was slain at the battle of Halidon Hill by the English in 1333, as was Sir Archibald. So it was Archibald’s son William who became the first Earl of Douglas in 1358, and also Earl of Mar through marriage. When he was killed at Otterburn in 1388 the second proper line of the Black Douglases had ended.

However, Sir James had also left an illegitimate son, Archibald the Grim, who took his half-brother’s place and became the 3rd Earl of Douglas. He was greatly respected and died in 1400.

His son, the 4th Earl, died fighting the English with France’s Charles VII and his younggrandsons were tricked and murdered in Edinburgh Castle by family enemies.

Modern Douglas Tartan

James, the 7th Earl, was a violent man and created many enemies, to his sons’ cost. The 8th Earl was stabbed to death by  James II Stewart(1430-1460), King of Scotland (your 14th great grand uncle). Three years later the King accused the family of treason and the earldom and entire estates of the Black Douglases were decimated.

Ruins of Douglas Castle
Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Scotland

Douglas Castle

The Plantagenets

Royal Arms of The Plantagenets

Known as the Warrior Kings and Queens of England, the Plantagenets dynasty rose to prominence in the High Middle Ages and lasted through the end of the Late Middle Ages. Two cadet branches descend from the Plantagenets; The House of York and The House of Lancaster. 

The founder of this great dynasty is Geoffrey V Plantagenet (1113-1151),Count of Anjou (Angevin Empire) who is also your 25th Great Grandfather through my mothers line. 

Broom Shrub

The name "Plantagenet" comes from a 12th century nickname of Geoffrey's meaning Broom Plant. He received this nickname from the yellow sprig of Broom Blossom that he wore in his hat. Planta Genista (Genet in French) is the official name of the Broom Shrub.

                                                                                                                                  

Geoffrey was the eldest son of Fulk V (1092-1143), Count of Anjou and King of Jerusalem and his wife Ermengarde of Maine(1109-1126). He was knighted at the age of 15 in preparation for his marriage to Empress Matilda of England (1102-1167) daughter of Henry I (1133-1189), King of England and the widow of Henry V (1086-1125), King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor.

This marriage was intended to seal a peace treaty between England/Normandy and Anjou. According to several sources the marriage was a stormy one with frequent long separations. Matilda who was 11 years older than Geoffrey was known to be quite proud of her status as Empress. The marriage was thought to be unhappy, partly because Maude felt humiliated that she, an empress, was married to a mere Count. Their first son, Henry, was born five years after the wedding. Two more sons, Geoffrey and Guillaume followed in the next three years.

Writers of that time period have described Geoffrey as handsome, red-headed, jovial and a great warrior but it was also alleged that his charm camouflaged a cold and selfish character.

After the death of Matilda's father the English throne passed to next living male relative which was Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois (1092-1154). Geoffrey fought against King Stephen and conquered the Normandy from him and was from 1144 on Duke of Normandy. He also quelled several uprisings in Anjou during this time period.

Geoffrey and Henry went to Paris to pledge their alliance to King Louis VII in 1151. There, Henry met the Queen Eleanor for the first time and apparently fell in love, which would later result in one of the biggest scandals of their time. Queen Eleanor (Eleanor of Aquitaine (1177-1204), Queen of France, Queen of England) just happens to be your 23rd Great Grandmother from another line.

 Geoffrey and Matilda's firstborn,  Henry II, King of England(1133-1189) (the first Plantagenet king of England) succeeded King Stephen in 1154.

Geoffrey died on 07 SEP 1151 of fever. He was returning from a counsel meeting when he was suddenly taken ill. He collapsed on a couch, made bequests of gifts and charities and died. He was entombed at St. Julien's Cathedral in Le Mans, France. His tomb and remains were lost during the French Revolution.

Cathedral of St. Julien,  Le Mans, France

The Other Boleyn Girl - William Stafford and Mary Boleyn

Sir William Stafford

Your 13th Great-Grandfather

Sir William Stafford (1500-1556)  of Chebsey, in Staffordshire was an Essex landowner  and the second husband of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn, and one-time mistress of King Henry VIII of England.


Biography

Stafford was the son of Humphrey Stafford of Blatherwycke, in Northamptonshire,  and his wife, Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Fogge of Ashford, in Kent. The family were distant relatives of the mighty Staffords, who controlled the dukedom of Buckingham  and the earldom of Wiltshire until 1521 [1] Nonetheless, William Stafford was a commoner,  and only a second son, and thus served Henry VIII as a soldier.[2]

King Henry VIII

In 1532, Stafford  was listed as one of the two hundred people who accompanied Henry VIII to 
France. The purpose of the journey was for Henry and his fiancée, Anne Boleyn, to meet with Francis I so that he might show his public support and approval for the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon. 

Queen Anne Boleyn

Among the other travellers was Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary,the younger  daughter of Thomas Boleyn, who was by then the Earl of both Wiltshire and Ormonde. 

 With her connections, Mary had excellent  marriage prospects.[3]  
Nonetheless, Mary and Stafford married in secret in 1534. When the marriage was discovered after Mary became pregnant, the couple were banished from court.

Mary Boleyn
Your 13th Step Great Grandmother

The couple initially lived at Chebsey in Staffordshire, but later moved to the Boleyn family home, Rochford Hall at Rochford, in Essex. They lived in relative obscurity until Mary died in 1543, after which Stafford served in Scotland. 

Rochford Hall, Essex, UK

He was knighted there in 1545 and, two years later, became an MP for Hastings. Also in 1545, Stafford remarried, this time to his distant cousin, Dorothy Stafford (your 13th great grandmother), the youngest daughter of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford and Ursula Pole.

During the reign of Mary I, Stafford and his family fled to Geneva. He died there on 5 May 1556, not living to see the reign of his first wife's niece, Elizabeth  I, or to see his wife, children, and stepchildren  become influential courtiers in Elizabeth's court.[4]


Marriages and Issue

Stafford married firstly, Mary Boleyn (d. 19 July 1499), daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire.  They had two recorded children:

•   Anne Stafford (1534-?), likely named in honour of Mary's sister, Anne Boleyn.
•   Edward Stafford (1535-1545).

Stafford married secondly,  Dorothy Stafford (d. 22 September  1604), daughter of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, and Ursula Pole. They had six children:

•   Elizabeth Stafford (1546–6 February 1599), married firstly, Sir William Drury, by whom she had issue; she married secondly, Sir John Scott.
•   Dorothy Stafford (b. 1548).
•   Sir Edward Stafford of Grafton (1552–1604), married firstly, Roberta Chapman by whom   he had issue; he married secondly, Douglas Sheffield.
•   Ursula Stafford (b.1553), married Richard Drake of Esher, by whom she had issue.
•   William Stafford (1554–1612), married Anne Gryme, by whom he had issue.
•   Sir John Stafford of Marlwood  Park (January 1556–1624), married Millicent Gresham.

William Stafford (courtier)                                                                         
                                                                 
In Popular Culture

Films & Television

•   Stafford is portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in the Hollywood  adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory,  alongside Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn.
•   Phillip Glenister played Stafford alongside Natascha McElhone  as Mary in the BBC film of The Other Boleyn Girl.
•   Stafford is mentioned in the Showtime series The Tudors, in regards to his marriage to Mary Boleyn. He does not, however, appear on-screen.

Books

•   Stafford  appears as a principal  character in The Last Boleyn, by Karen Harper, a book about the life of Mary Boleyn in the years before, during,  and after her time as the mistress of Henry VIII . He was called by all who knew him (in particular Henry VIII ) as "Staff".
•   Stafford (called "William") also was a main character in The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa 
Gregory, who escorts Mary Boleyn to Hever Castle, first starting in 1527. They become friends soon after the death of Mary's first husband, William Carey and William (Stafford) buys Mary's children, Catherine Carey, Lady Knollys and Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon their first ponies. Mary and William marry in 1533, and in secret, and Anne Boleyn, Mary's sister, doesn't discover it until a year later, when Mary discovers that she is pregnant for the third time with her daughter, also called Anne.


References

[1]  Humphrey Stafford was first cousin five times removed of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
[2]  Hart, Kelly (June 1, 2009). The mistresses of Henry VIII 
(http://book.google.com/books?id=r6HGPAAACAAJ) (First ed.). The History
Press. pp. 114–118. ISBN 0-7524-4835-8. .
[3]  Not only was Mary the daughter of an earl, but also the niece of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk through her mother, Elizabeth Howard. Coupled with the fact that she was the future sister-in-law  to a king, Mary could expect to marry very well.
[4]  Mary Boleyn had two children during her first marriage to Sir William Carey, Henry and 
Catherine Carey. The children were both rumored to have been fathered by Henry VIII, but the claim is dismissed by most historians.


Bibliography

•   The Mistresses of Henry VIII by Kelly Hart
•   Bindoff, The Commons 1509-1558
•   Oxford DNB, Mary Boleyn
                                                                  
                                                                
Article  Sources and Contributors

William Stafford (courtier) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=504829488 
Contributors: AxelBoldt, Bender235, Boleyn, Bzero, Charles Matthews, Courcelles, Craigy144, Deb, Eingangskontrolle,  Fernbom2, France3470, Gene93k, Hqb, Jack Wills It, Jeanne boleyn,  Jed keenan, Jwillbur,  LoveActresses, Lucian Sunday, Maryanneboleyn, Mpaquett, MsGrizabella, Optimist on the run, Owner ch, Piscesnikki, Rachelcgen, Ser Amantio di Nicolao,  Sjbodell, Sketchmoose, Smonson, Suetsumuhana, Textbook, Vesperholly, Woohookitty, YUL89YYZ, G. Barbiero, 33 anonymous edits
License Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0


Watch The Other Boleyn Girl here:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xftwiCh-xmE
This is the BBC version on YouTube

How The Research Is Done

I thought it's best to start by telling you how your Family Tree has been compiled.  No name has been added without rigorous verification and documentation by birth, baptismal, marriage, census, military service or land deed records when possible.  Grave stone photos have been included when available to help verify birth and death dates. Many of our relations were Royalty or Peers of the Realm (UK) and are included in Burke's Peerage ( a British Who's Who of Titled Nobility). 

 Doing this research is quite an exciting adventure as I uncover some really amazing facts about our line. I have been able to share knowledge and resources with some of our distant relations through the websites www.ancestry.com and www.mundia.com.  The Mormon Genealogy Database, www.familysearch.org, is available free online providing census records and much more. 

The research that I'm doing doesn't always progress in a linear fashion due to starts and stops (waiting for records or proper names) and a few flat out dead ends. 

Also, I found that once you get back to a certain point like discovering  Royalty or a Famous Personality in your line the work is mostly done for you.  There are numerous books and movies about our relatives so I will make sure to include a reference to them for you wherever I can. I find a ton of info on our people from www.wikipedia.com and (don't laugh) The Bible.

The Family Tree is huge already. It would be impossible for me to post it here in its entirety so I will just post the relevant parts to the info I'm giving you.  If you would like full access to the entire tree call me or message me and I'll give you the access code.  

It seems this project has only just begun for me, I'm anticipating at least a year or two to completely flesh out our tree. So, wish me luck!