William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus

William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus (24 February 1398 – October 1437) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier. The son of George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus and Princess Mary of Scotland, he was a grandson of King Robert III.

The story of Angus' life is interwoven with that of his uncle and King, James I of Scotland.

Angus was born about 1398 at Tantallon Castle in East Lothian. He inherited the Earldom of Angus in 1402, following his father's death of the plague whilst in English captivity, following the Battle of Homildon Hill.

In 1420, Angus was nominated as one of twenty-one noblemen to be delivered as hostages to the English court as security for the ransom of King James I. James had been captured by the English in 1406, and was held by first Henry IV of England, and latterly by his son Henry V of England. During the king's captivity, Scotland was ruled by his uncle Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, who had been in no hurry to pay his nephew's ransom. Following the death of Albany in 1420 the Scots finally paid the ransom monies owed. Whatever the machinations that followed, Angus was not included on the final list of hostages, but was one of the party of Scots nobles who met their King at Durham, in 1424. The King was escorted triumphantly back to Scotland, and Angus received a Knighthood from the King at his coronation at Scone Abbey on the 2 June of that year.

In 1425, a purge took place of the Albany Stewarts and their adherents. The trial which followed at Stirling Castle, included Angus amongst a large faction of Douglas nobles within the jury. Facing execution were, Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, his two sons Alaisdair and Walter, and the Earl of Lennox. The widowed Duchess of Albany, was held a close prisoner at Tantallon under the supervision of Angus for eight years.