William Douglas bought the Eskdale Temperance Hotel in around 1887 from Colonel William Malcolm. He was already the keeper and continued to run the hotel until the late 1910s when he seems to have got into financial difficulties.

The temperance movement began in the 1930s in the UK and soon there were many ‘temperance hotels’ across the country, providing the usual facilities but serving no alcohol. Colonel Malcolm bought the King’s Arms in Langholm in 1865 and rebuilt it as the Eskdale Temperance Hotel, incorporating a hall and reading rooms for working men.

The arch below, designed by Thomas Telford (1757-1834) while a mason’s apprentice, is said to have been a doorway in the King’s Arms.

William Douglas had previously operated a restaurant in Glasgow and was married to Isabella Ross from Rossshire. He was joined in Langholm by his brother Robert, a coachman, and together they ran Eskdale and Liddesdale Coach Tours, with daily departures from the hotel.

Many businesses at the time issued elaborate billhead receipts as proof of payment and/or delivery to customers, such as the one below. In this case it is issued to ‘E U Cong Church’ (the Evangelical Union Congregational Church), with the details in a table beneath.