Herbert Maurice Douglas

[Timmonthamdoug]

I am right at the beginning of searching my ancestry. All I know is that my grandfather was called Herbert Maurice Douglas. I know he was born in India. I would like to know when and where. I am hoping this will lead me to the ñames of his parents. Any idea how I go about this?
Cheers.
Tim

[Coromandel]

Hello Tim and welcome to the forum :)

Clutching at straws, really, I tried looking for Herbert on UK censuses. Could this be him? ...

A 26 year old Herbert Maurice Douglas, unmarried, born India, Kasauli, is shown as a boarder in the household of Mrs Jane Hewitt at 42 Dunchurch Road, Rugby, on the 1911 census.

Most unusually, Mrs Hewitt (who appears to have filled in and signed the form) is shown as the head of the household even though her husband (Thomas, a blacksmith, not working) was also there.

Herbert's occupation is shown as 'Electrical Engineer Pupil'.

The census reference is RG 14/18598, schedule no. 117.

Going back 10 years to the 1901 census, there is a 15 year old Herbert M. Douglas (born India Kussowlee) boarding at 1 Glebe Road, Bedford. I assume he is at the grammar school, as the head of the household (Harrold J. St John Sanderson) is shown as 'Grammar School Master'.
The reference for this one is RG 13/1488, folio 159, page 18.

Does any of this fit with what you know of your father (age, occupation, etc.)?

[Megan Roberts]

The British Library has the records from Colonial India:

http://www.
bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecordsfamilyhistory/familyresearch.html

[Coromandel]

Does any of this fit with what you know of your father (age, occupation, etc.)?

Oops, sorry: I meant grandfather.:blush5:

Earlier when I was at the library I started typing a reply based on a UK incoming passenger list on Ancestry. Unfortunately my time online ran out before I could post the details. Now I am at home again and Ancestryless. Here is what I recollect:

Herbert M. Douglas, a farmer, fortysomething (it gave his actual age but I forget)
Violet Douglas, h(ouse) wife,
a girl P..... aged 12
a boy J......E. aged 8

were on a ship that arrived in Southampton from Cape Town in December of a year I don't remember (early 1930s I think). Their proposed address in the UK was in Bedford (Clapham Road?). Their country of last permanent residence was South Africa I think.

I have forgotten the ship's name, sorry. The children's first names are given in full but I am not giving them here in case they are still alive.

The Bedford connection is interesting given that the 1901 census mentioned in post #2. However, it may be quite coincidental.

[Coromandel]

Going back 10 years to the 1901 census, there is a 15 year old Herbert M. Douglas (born India Kussowlee) boarding at 1 Glebe Road, Bedford. I assume he is at the grammar school, as the head of the household (Harrold J. St John Sanderson) is shown as 'Grammar School Master'.

Kelly's 1903 directory of Beds/Hunts/Northants (which you can see on the 'Historical Directories' website) has a long entry relating to Bedford Grammar School. H.K. St. J. Sanderson, M.A., is on a list of assistant masters there. Perhaps the place in Glebe Road was a boarding house for the school? However, I cannot see H. Sanderson or Glebe Road on the list of the school's boarding-houses and their masters.

[malcolm99]

Here is what I recollect:

Herbert M. Douglas, a farmer, fortysomething (it gave his actual age but I forget)
Violet Douglas, h(ouse) wife,
a girl P..... aged 12
a boy J......E. aged 8

were on a ship that arrived in Southampton from Cape Town in December of a year I don't remember (early 1930s I think). Their proposed address in the UK was in Bedford (Clapham Road?). Their country of last permanent residence was South Africa I think.

Tim - just doing some housekeeping for Coromandel.

The entry, using Coromandel's wording, reads>

Herbert M. Douglas, a farmer, aged 47
Violet Douglas, h(ouse) wife, aged 43
Miss P...... Douglas, scholar, aged 12
J...... E., scholar, aged 8
were on the ship SS Ceramic that arrived in Southampton from Cape Town on 15th December 1932. Their proposed address in the UK was 46 Clapham Road, Bedford. Their country of last permanent residence was South Africa.

[Coromandel]

The old boys' association, the Old Bedfordians Club, was established in 1891 according to the school's website. There seems to be a database of old boys on the site, but it looks like you need to register before you can search. You don't have to be an Old Bedfordian in order to register.

You could also try e-mailing the school to see if they have any archives from the period in question.

See 'OB Club' and 'Contact Us' tabs here:

http://www.
bedfordschool.org.uk

P.S. thank you, malcolm99, for filling in the gaps in my memory about the SS 'Ceramic'.

[Coromandel]

A Herbert Maurice Douglas was made a temporary Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery as of 16 November 1914, according to the 'London Gazette' of 17 November 1914:

http://www.
london-gazette.co.uk/issues/28977/pages/9410/page.pdf

Another announcement, this time from the 'London Gazette' of 18 March 1915, says 2nd Lieut H.M. Douglas is to be temporary Lieutenant from 19 March 1915 (the previous page has the heading 'Royal Horse and Field Artillery')

If you search the 'London Gazette' more thoroughly than I did you may also find a further promotion as the National Archives have a file on Major Herbert Maurice Douglas of the Royal Field Artillery. It hasn't been digitised. However, you could ask for a quote for copying the document:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C1072496

[Timmonthamdoug]

Wow, this is him!
As a child, I remember a photo of him in hillmorton road, rugby, studying as engineer.
Thanks so much for your help.
Now the journey beginning.



Hello Tim and welcome to the forum :)

Clutching at straws, really, I tried looking for Herbert on UK censuses. Could this be him? ...

A 26 year old Herbert Maurice Douglas, unmarried, born India, Kasauli, is shown as a boarder in the household of Mrs Jane Hewitt at 42 Dunchurch Road, Rugby, on the 1911 census.

Most unusually, Mrs Hewitt (who appears to have filled in and signed the form) is shown as the head of the household even though her husband (Thomas, a blacksmith, not working) was also there.

Herbert's occupation is shown as 'Electrical Engineer Pupil'.

The census reference is RG 14/18598, schedule no. 117.

Going back 10 years to the 1901 census, there is a 15 year old Herbert M. Douglas (born India Kussowlee) boarding at 1 Glebe Road, Bedford. I assume he is at the grammar school, as the head of the household (Harrold J. St John Sanderson) is shown as 'Grammar School Master'.
The reference for this one is RG 13/1488, folio 159, page 18.

Does any of this fit with what you know of your father (age, occupation, etc.)?

[Timmonthamdoug]

Yes, It is a school boarding House called Burnaby and is part of bedford school. Thanks.

[Timmonthamdoug]

This is great. I shall start looking Now.

[Coromandel]

The National Archives' catalogue is down at the moment so I can't double check . . . but I seem to remember that when I was looking for a First World War medal roll card for Herbert Maurice Douglas the only one I came up with was a Maurice Herbert Leonard Douglas. Could this be the same man? Perhaps someone could check the card on Ancestry to see if it gives any clues.

The reason that I have come back to Maurice is that FamilySearch in its 'India Births and Baptisms' collection has a baptism for a Maurice Herbert Leonard Douglas on 28 December 1885 at Ambala, Bengal. His date of birth is given as 18 August 1885 and his parents as Edward William Spencer Douglas and Florence Emily.

His d.o.b. would fit very nicely with the one shown as born in Kussowli/Kasauli on 1901/1911 census, and Ambala isn't far from Kasauli.

[Coromandel]

Other children of Edward William Spencer Douglas & Florence Emily (from FamilySearch):
- son John Ronald Douglas, born 26 Aug 1881 and bapt. 28 Aug 1881 at Fatehgurh, Bengal
- son Donald James Douglas, born 2 Jan 1884 and bapt 24 Feb 1884 at Jhansi, Bengal

This was possibly a second marriage for Edward, as there's a marriage of a 25 year old Edward William Spencer Douglas to Ellen Eaton Tulloch at Toondla, Bengal, on 18 Feb 1875; he was 25 and son of Edward Ronald Douglas; she was 19 and daughter of Henry C. Tulloch. Edward & Ellen had a son Edward Archibald Ross Douglas, born 28 Sept 1877 and bapt 1 Jan 1878 at Etawah, Bengal.

The 'Times of India' of 21 October 1878 had this death announcement:

'Oct 13th at Simla Ellen Eaton wife of Edward Spencer Douglas Assist Engineer Ganges Canal aged 22 years'

This is from the FIBIS database at
http://
search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/

[Coromandel]

Herbert M. Douglas, a farmer, aged 47
Violet Douglas, h(ouse) wife, aged 43


When searching for a possible marriage of Herbert and Violet, I did have a look on FreeBMD. I didn't find anything, and so assumed that the marriage had taken place overseas.

However, looking again for a marriage but this time for Maurice Douglas, I see that there is a marriage in the Maidenhead district in the third quarter of 1915 for Maurice H.L. Douglas and Violet D. Lee. You could send off for a copy of the marriage certificate from the GRO.

According to Ancestry24 there is an entry (dated 1943) in the Transvaal Deceased Estates Index (ref. 3399/51) for Maurice Herbert Leonard Douglas, passport no. 68361:

http://
ancestry24.com/search-item/?id=C2246108

I don't know how you would go about finding out more about this Transvaal record: I'm sure other members will be able to advise, though.

[Coromandel]

In fact, he died in England!

The death of 58 year old Maurice H.L. Douglas was registered in the Bedford district in the second quarter of 1943. (From FreeBMD). You could send off for a copy of his death certificate.

[Coromandel]

there is a marriage in the Maidenhead district in the third quarter of 1915 for Maurice H.L. Douglas and Violet D. Lee.

From the passenger list, the Violet Douglas travelling with Herbert M. Douglas was 43 in 1932, so born about 1889.

There is a birth registration for a Violet Dale Lee in the Chertsey district in the second quarter of 1889 . . . and there is an entry in the National Probate Calendar for a Violet Dale Douglas who died in South Africa in 1956. Perhaps someone could take pity on me and look up the details.:)

Edit: so Violet must have gone back to South Africa at some point.

[Coromandel]

FamilySearch has a baptism for Violet Dale Lee, daughter of Richard Dale Lee & Mathilda, at Chertsey on 19 July 1889. Baptisms for two of her sisters give their mother's first name as Mathilde. Also on FamilySearch is the marriage of Richard Dale Lee and Mathilde Heissinger at Atlow, Derbyshire, on 8 August 1880.

eGGSA has a photograph of a memorial to Violet Dale Douglas giving her dates as 23 April 1889 to 24 March 1956:

http://www.
eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1869283

The memorial is in the old cemetery, Memoriam Street, George, Western Cape. One other side of the memorial visible in the photo is to somebody with the surname Lee. From the black markings on the top of the memorial I think this is the same memorial shown in another photo here:

http://www.
eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1869286

This side of the memorial commemorates Norman Lee (b. 6 March 1883, d. 2 Feb 1955). Was he Violet's brother? Perhaps census returns would shed light on this.

[geneius]

Records at TNA for Herbert M DOUGLAS

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C1072496

[geneius]

One to keep on the side, if you copy part of the text into google the item will come up!

An e book
John Alexander Henderson. History of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen. (page 10 of 45)

ANGUS John, born 1845, sometime of 79th Highlanders, 7th Royal

Fusiliers, and York and Lancaster Regiment. Lieut.-
Colonel, Army Pay Dept. (retired) ; served in Afghan
War, 1878-79 (medal). Married, in 1870, Edith Mary, dau.
of the late Edward Ronald Douglas, CLE., Dept. Inspector
General of Post Office of IndiaJohn,

groom's name: John Angus
bride's name: Edith Mary Douglas
marriage date: 05 Sep 1870
marriage place: Mussoorie, Bengal, India
groom's father's name: John Angus
bride's father's name: Edward Ronald Douglas
indexing project (batch) number: M75022-1
system origin: India-EASy
source film number: 499039

[Timmonthamdoug]

Isn't life irónic. In 1989,I Was in Simla backpacking. Little did I great grandfather buried his first wife hére.Again, Thank you so much. Is there any Way to find out Where edward ronald Douglas Was born?

[Coromandel]

Is there any Way to find out Where edward ronald Douglas Was born?

Yes.:)

Have a look here:

http://
indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/Advancediscovery.aspx

If you use this and FamilySearch you should be able to pencil in quite a few family members. Also see the FIBIS website.

Yesterday I found an intriguing little extract from a book on Scottish law cases:

From a volume of 'The Scottish jurist' on Google Books:


'...This was an action for exhibition ad deliberandum, raised by E. Ronald Douglas, head clerk in the Ganges Canal Works, East Indies, and mandatories, in his capacity as heir in general and of line to the deceased Edward Douglas, a slater in Glasgow. Edward Douglas died in October 1847, and the present action was brought against Robert Rankin Holmes, writer in Glasgow, the surviving partner of the firm of Douglas and Holmes, who were the law-agents of the late Edward Douglas....'

From Google Books but unfortunately 'snippet view' only. So far I haven't been able to persuade it to show me the publication date. It's interesting that Edward Ronald Douglas (who perhaps was known as Ronald?) was involved with the Ganges Canal, as his son was later.

[Timmonthamdoug]

So,we come from Glasgow. Does he appear in any census?
Can i find this census on the internet.
Thanks so much for this extraordinary information.

[geneius]

Hello Timmonthamdoug

I think you need to collate all the information on this thread and as Coromandel suggests peruse the sites we have given to slowly build your family tree up!

There is so much information covering several generations frorm Maurice to Edward Ronald.....

Suggest you start with www.familysearch.org,
select Asia & Middle East
you will then see the Indian records.....

Army Records maybe another source, these may give you dates of marriage births places etc.

A will in RSA suggests that there was property/ investments held there but you will need to access the UK will first!

We're all here to help you.......

Jx

[geneius]

So,we come from Glasgow. Does he appear in any census?

You will need to find his year of birth or baptism to successfully search the census....Scotland are seperate form the UK



Can i find this census on the internet. yes at subscription sites Ancestry / Find My Past / Genes Reunited

The 1851 & 1881 UK census are free on familysearch and freecen & subsc sites

Birth marriage death can be found at freebmd.org.uk / freereg



Thanks so much for this extraordinary information.

Our pleasure, what we enjoy doing as you can see...............

[Coromandel]

At this stage we don't know what the relationship was between Edward Ronald Douglas (henceforth called E.R.D.) and the Edward Douglas of Glasgow who is supposed to have died in 1847, except that E.R.D. was claiming to be 'heir in general and of line'. So he was probably a close relative. They weren't father and son, for E.R.D.'s father was called John according to his baptism entry in the India Office database (post #21). They are unlikely to have been brothers (since it's rare to have two brothers of the same name) so perhaps were uncle/nephew or grandfather/grandson? If any archives have survived relating to the court case then they may shed more light on the matter: I have no idea where to look for Scottish legal records but will have a dig around and report back later.

The Edward Douglas who is supposed to have died in 1847 should be on the 1841 census, which is the earliest surviving one. He died too early to get a death certificate (civil registration did not begin until 1855 in Scotland) but you may find a burial (this may tell you his age at death which would be useful to know). The subscription site Scotlands People gives you access to Scottish census, church records, wills, and more. As mentioned by geneius you can see transcripts of Scottish censuses on Ancestry and Findmypast (again, you will need a subscription).

It's also worth trying FreeCEN, which has good coverage of the Scottish 1841 census. I had a quick look on there: there is no likely looking Edward Douglas but there is an Edward Douglass in Glasgow who could be a contender. His age is given as 60. Ages were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 on this census so he could have been up to 64. His occupation is shown as 'Independent', probably meaning that he had sufficient income from property/investments to be able to retire. There's a Robert Douglass in the same household (aged 20, i.e. 20-24, occupation shown as 'Dur' in transcript)*. Unfortunately this census doesn't state relationships, so we don't know if he's Edward's son, or nephew, or whatever. If this Edward is still around on the 1851 census then that would, of course, eliminate him from our enquiry.

(Don't discount this Edward because of the spelling difference: as you go further back in time spelling gets more and more variable.)

Another avenue to explore is finding out more about E.R.D.'s father. His occupation and regiment are shown in the baptism entry for E.R.D. in the India Office database.

*I have now found a reference to a Robert Douglas (son of Edward), born about 1820, who was a surgeon in the Royal Navy. So perhaps 'Dur' is a misreading of 'Sur[geon]'? I see that there is a will for a Robert Douglas, assistant surgeon, Royal Navy, proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) in 1844. You could download this for a small fee from the National Archives' website. If he is the same Robert who appears on the 1841 census then he must have died very young.

[Coromandel]

I see that there is a will for a Robert Douglas, assistant surgeon, Royal Navy, proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) in 1844. You could download this for a small fee from the National Archives' website. If he is the same Robert who appears on the 1841 census then he must have died very young.

Trying to find out more about this Robert who was dead by 1844, I found this death announcement from the 'Glasgow Herald' of 22 Nov. 1844:

On the 13th instant, on board H.M.S. Alban, on the passage from Cork to Plymouth, Mr Robert Douglas, assistant surgeon, R.N.

'The Standard' of 30 Nov 1844 seems to have been rather behind with the news, for it announced only that 'Assistant Surgeon Robert Douglas R.M., has invalided to Plymouth Hospital from the marine battalion at Cork.'

Googling in the hope of more clues I discovered to my amazement that Robert Douglas, surgeon, Royal Navy (1820-1844) was, despite his youth, a prolific writer. Among his output was 'Adventures of a medical student' which was published posthumously with 'A memoir of the life of the author' in 1848. It is online here:

http://
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044086822715;seq=7;view=1up

The 'Adventures' seems at a quick glance to be fictional, though still interesting. It is the introductory biographical bit that may be of more use genealogically. There are lots of snippets of family history, for example:


'Robert Douglas was born in the neighborhood of Glasgow, in 1820, and was the second son of Edward Douglas, Esq., portioner, who at one time carried on an extensive business in that city. When very young, his father removed to a large house situated in the neighborhood of Glasgow, which, from the vast extension of the city, is now reckoned within its boundaries. Here Robert, together with an elder brother, since dead, was put to a private school...'

'....On the death of his mother, a virtuous and talented woman . . . [his father] found it necessary to remove to the centre of the city. Robert, who was now reckoned a good English scholar, was therefore sent to the classical department of the High School...'

There's much in this acocunt about his writing, including a reference to 'early poetical effusions' being published in a Glasgow newspaper under the name 'Sholto'.

This account says he died aged 24 of typhus fever.

Now I am pretty sure this must be the Robert who is with Edward 'Douglass' on the 1841 census in Glasgow. What I do not know is whether this is the same Edward of whom E.R.D. claimed he was the heir.

[Coromandel]

From a volume of 'The Scottish Jurist' on Google Books . . . . So far I haven't been able to persuade it to show me the publication date.

I have beaten Google Books into submission and got it to show me another snippet giving the heading of the case, which is:


'19th July 1854.
Second Division.
Edward Ronald Douglas and mandatories, Pursuers, v. Robert Rankin Holmes, Defender.'

As yet I am none the wiser as to which court this was in. The records may be at the National Archives of Scotland but if they are they're not catalogued in enough detail for me to find them in the online catalogue. I have never looked at Scottish legal records, though, so have no idea what I'm doing!

There is some good news though: in the same snippet I can see a reference to 'Robert Douglas, surgeon to the navy' so I think that Robert of the 'poetical effusions' is a relative of yours.:smartass:

[Coromandel]

Second Division. . . . As yet I am none the wiser as to which court this was in.

That title 'Second Division' may be a big clue. According to a glossary on the Judiciary of Scotland website, the Second Division is 'one of the Divisions of the Inner House of the Court of Session presided over by the Lord Justice Clerk' and the Court of Session is 'the supreme civil court'.

http://www.
scotland-judiciary.org.uk/29/0/Glossary

[grisel]

The National Library of Scotland has post office directories online. I can see an Edward Douglas (slater) from 1799 to 1825 at various addresses in Glasgow.

[grisel]

The National Library of Scotland has post office directories online. I can see an Edward Douglas (slater) from 1799 to 1825 at various addresses in Glasgow.

The earlier addresses are in the Trongate area in the city centre. The latest one is Clayslap near Kelvin Bank which is to the west (and may be the site of the large house mentioned?)

However the 1841 census mentioned is back in the Trongate area.

There is also a death of an Edward Douglass 1847 Gorbals.

[Coromandel]

Ah, grisel, it's good to have a Scottish expert on board. Thank you for coming to my rescue.:)

I omitted to mention when quoting the bits from the biography of Robert Douglas that his father is described as Edward Douglas, portioner.

The 1845-6 directory has 'Edward Douglas, portioner, 85 New wynd'. I think that was the same address given on the 1841 census, though haven't got my notes to hand to check.

[grisel]

Scottish but not an expert!

A portioner owns land - so maybe there was good money in slating.

Familysearch has an 1815 marriage for an Edward Douglas and Isobel Hamilton and there are births in 1817 and 1819 of an Edward and a Robert which could be possible.

[geneius]

Edward Ronald DOUGLAS b cica 1826 declares father as John DOUGLAS
married 13 Aug 1845 Meerut,​ Bengal,​ India
Eliza Georgeinna SPENCER ( This is probably where the SPENCER as a forename came from ) declares father as John SPENCER

The couple appear to have had 10 living children

Edward Ronald DOUGLAS death 11 January 1887 buy 12 Janaury 1887 Umbala Bengal India

Eliza Spencer DOUGLAS death 1897

[Timmonthamdoug]

Togo internet so slow. I am a bit lost. What is the relationship between John Douglas (father of ERD) and Edward Douglas (slater/portioner)? Brother?

[Coromandel]

What is the relationship between John Douglas (father of ERD) and Edward Douglas (slater/portioner)? Brother?

We don't know yet. ERD was born 1825 if I recall correctly, and his parents John Douglas and Catherine Carter married the previous year according to the India Office Family History database. So far I haven't seen anything to tell us what sort of vintage John Douglas was. He could have been just in his early 20s when he married, but could have been much older. If Edward the slater/portioner is the same Edward who appears on the 1841 census then we can say he was 60-64(ish) in 1841. So it's possible he and John were brothers. Or they could have been more distant relatives but in that case all of Edward-the-slater's nearer relatives had died by the time ERD went to court in the 1850s.

Other than finding the records of that court case I am not sure where to go next. I will have a think!


I am a bit lost.
We (or perhaps I should say I, for I am especially guilty!) have been bombarding you with a lot of information and advice. I hope it isn't too overwhelming. What I'm happy to do if it will help is to try to summarise what we've discovered so far and what documents you need to obtain if you want to verify some of the assumptions that have been made.

[grisel]

Edward is fortunately a reasonably uncommon name in Scotland at that time. Familysearch has a birth of an Edward Douglas in Glasgow 1770, parents John Douglas and Margaret Brown. There are several other children to this couple from 1758 onwards - including a John in 1760 - and a marriage in Jan 1758.

This family could well be a strong contender so I would keep it to one side to see if it eventually fits into the picture.

Sadly no will for Edward Douglas on SP - but there is a will and an inventory for a James Douglas, slater, brother of an Archibald and on freecen there are James and Archibald Douglas (separately) both slaters in 1841 in the same part of Glasgow as Edward - possible family connection?

[grisel]

On the National archives of scotland catalogue there are references CS38/1/91 from 1810 to John Douglas and James Douglas sons of the deceased John Douglas slaters and Margaret Brown his relict (widow) - so same parents as the Edward Brown already mentioned. There are also references CS38/6/55 to Edward Douglas v John and James Douglas 1812 (tho could poss be a different family). Making me think that Edward Ronald's father John could be a brother to Edward the slater.

There is a possible death of a John Douglas Glasgow 1810.

The brother James mentioned above has no baptism in family search that I can see. The James Douglas in the 1841 census has age 35 which seems a little young to be the James brother of John and Edward - but perhaps the age is wrong. I think he is the James married to Mary Forsyth whose will is in SP.

[grisel]

. Making me think that Edward Ronald's father John could be a brother to Edward the slater.
.

Or then again- as John the brother of Edward was born in 1760 and John the father of Edward ronald married in 1824 - perhaps they are from different generations, Edward Ronald's father is perhaps a nephew of John b 1760 or of his brother James maybe. - or some other relative.

Sorry am not being much help!

[Timmonthamdoug]

Have followed up the 9 children of ERD, there marriages and found some of their children. Thought my grandfather was an only child but had one half brother and two others. It seems the ones I have researched survived the great war. Interestingly, grandads brother went to live in Chertsey, which could explain how grandad ended up marrying Violet Lee in Chertsey.
My real hold ups getting on with the searches is our appalling Internet connection in Togo and not having access to sites because you need to use a credit card. I have a niece in uk so will sort it out through her.

[Coromandel]

I have started work on a summary, but it sounds like you may not need it! Let me know what you think.

In the meantime here are some other bits and pieces of information plus some advice on where to get copies of original documents.

Re. Herbert's parents
geneius has found them on the 1911 census . . . quite a feat given that (a) they were in Jersey and (b) Edward is listed just by his initials:


Firmandale Beaumont Jersey
EWS Douglas, 61, private means, born India Scottish British
Florence E Douglas, 48, private means, born at sea

They had been married 30 years (giving an approx. marriage date of 1881) and had had three children, all still alive. They are shown as boarders. I wonder if they had settled in Jersey permanently or were just holidaying there?

Re. Herbert's brothers
Findmypast (FMP) has army records, from WO 97 (Chelsea pension records at the National Archives, Kew) for
- Archibald Ross Douglas born 1879, Swila, Bengal Presidency [is this Edward Archibald Ross Douglas minus his first name?]
- John Ronald Douglas born 1880 Aligar, Bengal Presidency
- Donald James Douglas born 1883 Bundelkbund, India

This might be another thing to delegate to your niece. Alternatively, I think FMP do gift subscriptions which would get around the credit card problem. Unfortunately it won't get around the problem with the slow internet connection, so it might be very frustrating for you waiting for these multi-page army records to download.

English birth/marriage/death certificates from 1837 onwards
Copies can be obtained from the General Register Office (GRO) in Southport: see their website at
http://www.
gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

You will need to quote the year and quarter of registration, the registration district, volume number and page number: this information can be found in the GRO's quarterly indexes. Many of these (from 1837 to 1940s/1950s) can be found on the free website FreeBMD. For later ones use Ancestry, Findmypast etc.

English probate records post-1858
Indexes to English [and Welsh] probate records from 1858 to the 1960s are available on Ancestry (requires subscription, though many library services in the UK offer free access, so your niece may be able to take advantage of this depending on where she lives). The index is called the National Probate Calendar. The procedure for obtaining copies of wills is quite antiquated and involves printing off forms and sending payment by cheque to a place in Leeds. There are details here:

http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/showthread.php/53450-Idiots-Guide-To-Wills

Again courtesy of geneius, there is a National Probate Calendar entry for Maurice Herbert Leonard Douglass. I missed it in my own search, because of the spelling of his surname. It says that probate was granted to Norman LEE retired Bank Manager. The estate was valued at £3237 10s 3d. (The Calendar entries do not give any clues as to the beneficiaries of the will; they only name the executor(s).)

N.B. Where the Probate Calendar refer only to 'administration' (rather than probate) there won't be a will, just a grant of letters of administration.

Scottish records
For Scotland the key website is Scotland's People, which grisel has mentioned. Again you'll have to find a way round the credit card problem.

Will post again a bit later to fill in some info on the family in India.

[Coromandel]

EWS Douglas, 61, private means, born India Scottish British
Florence E Douglas, 48, private means, born at sea[/indent]

They had been married 30 years (giving an approx. marriage date of 1881)

I had assumed they'd married in India, but one should never assume anything in genealogy! FreeBMD shows a marriage of an Edward Spencer Douglas in the third quarter of 1880 in the Hampstead district. There's a Florence Emily Tulloch with matching vol/page numbers.

Tulloch rang a vague bell . . . and looking back in this thread I see that it was the surname of Edward William Spencer Douglas's first wife, the short-lived Ellen Eaton.

If you look on FamilySearch you should be able to find baptisms of sisters called Ellen Eaton Tulloch and Florence Emily Tulloch. From the 1871 census index on FamilySearch it looks as if they were both in England, in Gravesend then: I can't see who they're with.

[Coromandel]

The following are all from Google Books.

'The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany', Vol. 10
under the heading 'Military appointments, promotions, removals, &c.'
26 Feb [probably 1820]: 'Mr. John Douglas appointed an assist.surg. in G.O. [General Orders?] of the 22nd inst. to do duty under the orders of the superintending surg. at Meerut. He is directed to afford medical aid to the detachment of his Majesty's troops proceeding to the field stations under Cornet Wymer.'

Marriage announcement from the 'Quarterly Oriental Magazine'
'At Cawnpore, on the 12th April [1824], by the Rev. Mr. Williams, John Douglas, Esq., Moradabad, to Miss Catharine Carter.'

'Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register', Vol. 20 (1825)
[April 1825?] 'Officiat. Assist. Surg. J. Douglas to do duty with 14th N.I., at Dacca.'
[this would fit nicely with John being with the 14th N.I. at the time of Edward Ronald Douglas's birth in 1825]

'Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register', Vol. 21 (1826):
Calcutta birth announcements include
'Aug. 3. The lady of Assist. surg. John Douglas, of a son.'

ditto, vol. 24 (1827)
birth annoucement:
'Feb.1. On the river, near Baglepore, the lady of John Douglas, Esq., offic. assist. surg., of a son.'