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The Mary Kerr that you refer to was the daughter of Robert Kerr, 1st Marquess of Lothian and Lady Jean Campbell. Probably not the person you are seeking.
Re: Help researching Douglases in Sunderland, Durham from South Africa (John Orriss Douglas)
Hi William
Thank you for replying.
I'm a bit confused by this statement "There is a definite link between the Douglas families of Sunderland and those in South Africa, but the difficulty has been in proving the links." I am in possession of my 3rd great grandfather's death certificate stating where he came from and who his parents were and have found the documentation online which proves he was born in Sunderland and christened in Bishopwearmouth so the link is already there. How he came to be here in South Africa though remains a mystery.
My understanding is that all Douglas lineage has its origin in Scotland though so I'm working towards connecting the dots back to that. According to other online records Ann Coulson was born around 1745 so the chances that the John Douglas she was married to was born in 1753 is highly unlikely. I've been working with family trees and lineage for over a year and women generally did not marry men younger than themselves in that era. There has been only one I've encountered and the age gap was very small. Other sources have her married to a John Douglas born in 1749 (also means he would be younger than her) born in Sunderland and yet others have her married to a John Douglas born in 1736 in Fife, Scotland. Very confusing. I wish they'd use their middle names which seems to be the mother's maiden surname, at least we'd have a better idea of which John Douglas is which.
What I do find interesting is that my 3rd great grandfather is not any of the John Douglases listed in the piece on your website called "John Douglas in South Africa", which means someone missed something in their research of John Douglas here. He was a farmer in Groot Drakenstein (Franschhoek/Paarl) and died at his home there in 1891. He was married to two South African women, surname Cemmer and Flynn. His descendants are still in the area of Franschhoek (under which Groot Drakenstein eventually fell). I'm including this info in the eventuality that someone else that browses this site might also be related and looking for this info or have possession of the info and be able to provide further insight. I've also changed the subject title of this correspondence so it can be found more easily by those seeking specific info on Douglas links in South Africa.
I will continue my investigations and if I can provide further information that can contribute to the clarity of the Douglas line in South Africa I will contact you with the details so you can update your site for those seeking information.
