Michael T Tracy

William Douglas (1793-1847) Michael T Tracy

William Douglas was the first known member of his family to leave Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland in about 1815 at the age of 22 with his wife bound for Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada. The young man, like most Scottish immigrants of the era wanted a better life for themselves and families. Eventually the Douglas family settled near St. Andrews, Charlotte County, New Brunswick which was founded in 1783 by United Empire Loyalists. St. Andrews was a garrison town for British soldiers and a thriving merchant settlement by the time William Douglas established a foothold there. Douglas established with two other partners the shipping firm of Ker, Douglas and Campbell. By 1828 Douglas purchased part of (Chamcook) Minister's Island and established a farm on the western side of the island. After the death of his wife, Agnes, in 1835 he married Isabella Hunter two years later and had five children. The Douglas family, were devout members of the Greenock Presbyterian Church in St. Andrews, where William years earlier, was at one time a church elder. Douglas owned lots in St. Andrews proper, but came into financial trouble whereby these lots and his lands on Minister's Island were sold off in 1841. Nine years later William Douglas died, a broken man. This then is the narrative of the life and times of William Douglas, an early pioneer of New Brunswick.