Douglas Cause

E295957

The Douglas Cause was an 18th-century Scottish legal battle over the inheritance of the Douglas estates that became one of the most famous and politically charged court cases of its time.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Douglas Cause canonical 11

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf 18th-century court case ⓘ
Scottish legal case ⓘ
inheritance dispute ⓘ
country Scotland ⓘ
decisionBy House of Lords ⓘ
decisionDate 1769-02-27 ⓘ
describedAs “the cause of the century” in Scotland ⓘ
endTime 1769 ⓘ
fieldOfWork Scots law ⓘ
followedBy reversal of Court of Session judgment by House of Lords ⓘ
genre civil litigation ⓘ
hasCause allegations of child substitution in Paris ⓘ
disputed birth of Archibald Douglas ⓘ
hasEffect heightened tensions between Scottish political factions ⓘ
public debate on judicial independence in Scotland ⓘ
hasPart Hamilton v. Douglas ⓘ
involves Douglas estates in Lanarkshire and elsewhere in Scotland ⓘ
languageOfRecord English ⓘ
Scots ⓘ
legalAction challenge to legitimacy of Archibald Douglas ⓘ
challenge to succession to the Douglas estates ⓘ
legalSystem Scots law ⓘ
location Court of Session, Edinburgh ⓘ
House of Lords, London ⓘ
mainSubject inheritance of the Douglas estates ⓘ
notableWork Boswell’s Account of the Douglas Cause ⓘ
opponent Douglas supporters ⓘ
Hamilton family ⓘ
participant Alexander Wedderburn ⓘ
Archibald Douglas ⓘ
Charles Yorke ⓘ
Duchess of Douglas ⓘ
Duke of Hamilton ⓘ
James Boswell ⓘ
Lord Camden ⓘ
linked to: Baron Camden

Lord Mansfield ⓘ
Lord President Dundas ⓘ
politicalAlignment Tory and Jacobite-leaning supporters of Douglas ⓘ
Whig supporters of Hamilton ⓘ
precededBy Court of Session judgment in favour of Hamilton ⓘ
linked to: Auchterarder case
result Archibald Douglas confirmed heir to the Douglas estates ⓘ
significance landmark in Scots law of evidence ⓘ
major political controversy in Britain ⓘ
one of the most famous Scottish legal cases of the 18th century ⓘ
significantEvent House of Lords judgment of 27 February 1769 ⓘ
startTime 1761 ⓘ
timePeriod 18th century ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.