Name William 7th | Died August 7, 1648 | |
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William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton (1582 – 7 August 1648) was a grandson of the 6th Earl of Morton. He was Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, and a zealous Royalist, who, on the outbreak of the Great Rebellion in 1642, provided £100,000 for the cause by selling his Dalkeith estates to the Earl of Buccleuch. He also expanded his other seat, Aberdour Castle in Fife, with a Renaissance-style east wing.
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Family
On 28 March 1604, he married Lady Anne Keith, a daughter of the George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal and they had ten children:
Claimant to the earldom
John Maxwell, 9th 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 (1620) in lieu of Morton.