James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton KT PRS (1702 – 12 October 1768) was a Scottish astronomer and representative peer who was President of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from its foundation in 1737 until his death. He also became President of the Royal Society (24 March 1764), and was a distinguished patron of science, and particularly of astronomy.

He graduated MA from King's College, Cambridge in 1722. In 1746 he visited France, and was imprisoned in the Bastille, probably as a Jacobite.

Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia was named after Lord Morton by Lieutenant James Cook (the spelling being an error in the published account of Cook's voyage in the HMS Endeavour). Lord Morton had been influential in obtaining a grant of £4,000 to finance the voyage.

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