Morton, James Douglas, Earl of, 1702-1768

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton (1702-1768) was educated in Edinburgh and at King's College, Cambridge. An amateur scientist and mathematician, Morton was the first President of the Edinburgh Society for Improving the Arts and Sciences; served as President of the Royal Society from 1764-1768; was one of eight foreign members of the Académie française; and may have served as one of the first trustees of the British Museum.

Morton married Agatha Halyburton of Pitcur in 1731; only two of their children reached adulthood. While traveling in France in 1745, he and his family were imprisoned in the Bastille, from which Morton was not released for several weeks. He also served as Keeper of the Records of Scotland, and was drawing up a plan for the better preservation of the archives when he died on October 12, 1768, at Chiswick. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sholto Charles Douglas, who died at Taormina in 1774.

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton (1702-1768) was educated in Edinburgh and at King's College, Oxford. An amateur scientist and mathematician, Morton was the first President of the Edinburgh Society for Improving the Arts and Sciences; served as President of the Royal Society from 1764-1768; was one of eight foreign members of the Académie française; and may have served as one of the first trustees of the British Museum.

Morton married Agatha Halyburton of Pitcur in 1731; only two of their children reached adulthood. While traveling in France in 1745, he and his family were imprisoned in the Bastille, from which Morton was not released for several weeks. He also served as Keeper of the Records of Scotland, and was drawing up a plan for the better preservation of the archives when he died on October 12, 1768, at Chiswick. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sholto Charles Douglas, who died at Taormina in 1774.