The Douglas Hotel is on the right in the photo below, just beyond the Town Hall.
It was run by Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Watt nee Rutherford (1863-1921) on her own after her husband Adam died (1844-1913). She was previously married to the hotel’s coachman Henry Learmonth (1866-1902). Her stepfather William Cockburn (1835-1902) was the hotel’s former innkeeper.
Twice widowed, she also seems to have been jilted by Sergeant Major Robert Parkinson, KOSB. She went to court in 1893 over a breach of promise of marriage and was awarded £60 in an out-of-court settlement.
She and her stepfather William were taken to court in 1899 by Daniel Gillies McKirdy, assistant inspector of weights and measures for Dumfriesshire, for serving short measures in the bar. William was fined 10 shillings, as were the innkeepers of the Commercial and Crown Hotels.
The Douglas Hotel was formerly the Shoulder of Mutton inn and after modifications was renamed in honour of Robert Douglas (1826-1881), an earlier keeper.
In 1915 it was owned by William Wyper, a brewer’s clerk in Edinburgh. It was previously owned by Adam Watt, who also owned the Crown Hotel.
Adam and Elizabeth had nine children from their previous marriages, three of whom served in the Great War:
- Alexander Watt: Adam’s son who was a railway guard in Edinburgh. He rejoined the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) and was severely injured by a hand grenade in France on 24th January 1916. He died of wounds three days later, aged 33, leaving a widow Jessie, whom he had married in 1913.
- Henry Watt: Alexander’s twin brother who joined the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards.
- James Learmonth: Elizabeth’s son who joined the 5th Battalion KOSB.
Elizabeth ran the hotel until her death in 1921 when William Allen, previously of the Commercial Hotel, took over.