Scottish lord of the Douglases, prominent in the dynastic and English wars of the 14th century.

The son of Sir Archibald Douglas (d. 1333), regent of Scotland, who was killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill, he was educated in France and returned to Scotland in 1348. He killed his kinsman and godfather, Sir William (c. 1300–53), the knight of Liddesdale, in Ettrick Forest (1353) and acquired part of Liddesdale. His marriage (1357) with Margaret, sister and heiress of Thomas, 9th earl of Mar, brought him the estates and earldom of Mar (1374), and he was created earl of Douglas in January 1358. He joined King David II in proposing a treaty (1363–64) with England, which would substitute for Robert the Stewart (afterward Robert II) an English prince as heir to the Scottish throne. David was seeking a remission of his ransom, William the return of his family's English estates. On the accession (1371) of Robert II he was nevertheless reconciled and was appointed warden of the marches.