A Letter to a Noble Lord: Or, A Faithful Representation of the Douglas Cause BOUND WITH: A Second Letter to a Noble lord: Or The Speeches of the Lord Chancellor, and of Lord Mansfield, on February the 27th, 1769, on the Douglas Cause.
by [HENDERSON Andrew]
London: Printed for A. Henderson in Westminster-Hall and sold at his Hose in College-Street, Westminster, [second title not dated]1769. . 8vo, disbound, spine showing evidence of previous pamphlet binding A rather rare couple of pamphlets; ESTC lists 10 holdings of the first title (4 in the USA) and only 5 of the second (1 in the USAA contemporary owner has supplied in ink the names of various characters involved where the printer has simply used a long dash in order to retain anonymity.A real cause clbre and indicative of the sort of shenanigans the noble and landed indulged in prior to the discovery of DNA. The case revolved around the questionable birth of Archibald James Edward Stewart, supposedly one of the twin sons born in Paris of Sir John Stewart, 3rd Baronet (1687Ð1764) and Lady Jane Douglas (1698Ð1753), daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas and the sister of the very rich and childless Duke of Douglas whose estate would pass to the Duke of Hamilton (as the heir presumptive), unless a closer heir could be found. The circumstances of the birth were controversial, Lady Jane was 50 years old at the time (her 63 year-old husband had been described by her brother as a 'wore-out old rake'). There followed a series of court cases, which became known as the Douglas Cause. In 1767 Archibald lost a much publicized court case concerning his rights to the Douglas estates. His opponents, the 12 year old Duke of Hamilton, Sir Hew Dalrymple, and others, claimed that Stewart was not the son of Lady Jane Douglas, and thus was not the rightful heir to the Douglas estates. In February 1769 the House of Lords reversed the decision. Central to the case was whether Lady Jane was still able to have children. Intimate details of her menstrual status was given at the trials by her servants. The HamiltonsÕ witnesses claimed to have noticed nothing about Lady Jane's appearance, prior to the double birth, to suggest that she was pregnant. Hamilton's lawyers also found two French couples who both said they had sold babies to a mysterious foreign couple about the time the 'twins' were born. Douglas lawyers countered by providing evidence of a male midwife said to have delivered Lady JaneÕs babies. Archibald Douglas, was able to inherit and his descendants, who include British Minister Alec Douglas-Home and has family, have benefited ever since. (Inventory #: 2501)