John Douglas (Royal Marines officer)

Sir John Douglas (died 4 March 1814) was a British officer of the Royal Marines who, with his wife Charlotte, Lady Douglas was involved in a scandal regarding an alleged illegitimate child born to the Princess of Wales, Caroline of Brunswick.

Sir John Douglas was born at Jean Fields, Dalkeith, near Edinburgh; he was the son of Louis Douglas, Esq.; his grandfather was a lord of Session.

John Douglas began his military service at age thirteen. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Marines on 14 February 1776 and promoted to first lieutenant on 9 April 1778. While serving as on recruitment duties in Gloucester, he met Charlotte Hopkinson, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel George Caesar Hopkinson, late of the 15th Dragoons. Her family were acquaintances of antiquarian Samuel Lysons. Colonel Hopkinson bought the estate of Wotton in 1790.

Captain, 29 April 1783; Major in the Army, 1 March 1794

Douglas married 17 June 1797, at Gloucester:, Charoltte, daughter of a private soldier, named Hephinson or Hopkinson, who was soon made a Sergeant; later becoming an army agent and subsequently became a Colonel, wealthy with an estate near Gloucester.

Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, 1 January 1798

MID by Sydney Smith for actions at Acre (as ty. Colonel) Commanded British marines and Ottoman forces at the retaking of El-Arish

He was knighted on 2 April 1800. Equerry to Duke of Sussex 15 September 1802. Major and Captain Royal Marines, 19 July 1803; Lieutenant-Colonel Royal Marines, 15 August 1805

Colonel in the Army, 25 April 1808 On 4 June 1811 he was promoted from Colonel to Major-General in the Army.

More details about the Delicate Investigation from The Book of Spencer Perceval

Sir John Douglas died at Maze Hill on 4 March 1814. According to The Gentleman's Magazine, "his death was occasioned by a complaint (from which he was never since been free) contracted whilst serving with the Turkish Army in the Deserts of El Arish, arising from the quantity of sand in the water which the army was constrained to use, in consequence of the Enemy having possession of the wells". His coffin, decorated with the flag under which he served at Acre and the sword of the French commandant who surrendered at El Arish, was transported in grand procession for burial at Charlton church on 11 March. A book of Verses to the Memory of Sir John Douglas was published, dedicated by permission to his widow.