William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton

William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton (c. 1540 – 1606) was the son of Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven and Margaret Erskine, a former mistress of James V of Scotland.

Sir William's half-brother from his mother's liaison with the king was James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland from 1567 until his assassination in January 1570. Sir William's cousin was another Regent of Scotland James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, and was closely associated with him in his career, the two men being occasionally confused in the histories.

William's father was killed at the battle of Pinkie in September 1547. William suffered from breathing difficulties all his life. His wife was Agnes Leslie, daughter of George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes, by whom he had eleven children. The Leslies were active in Scottish Reformation.

William Douglas was the owner of the island Loch Leven Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots had met John Knox in April 1563. Since 1546, he and his mother had built the "Newhouse of Lochleven" on the shore of Loch Leven where Kinross House now stands. The "Newhouse" eventually replaced the island castle as the centre of the estate.

In June 1567, Queen Mary was imprisoned in the island castle following her surrender at the Battle of Carberry Hill. On 24 July she was forced to sign abdication papers at Lochleven in favor of her infant son James VI. William Douglas had a legal paper drawn up on 28 July 1567, which stated that he was not present when the Queen signed her "demission" of the crown and did not know of it, and that he offered to convey her to Stirling Castle for her son's coronation which was the following day, which offer she refused. Mary also signed that paper. However, in 1581 Mary wrote that William was one of her few remaining enemies in Scotland, and should have witnessed that she was compelled to assent to her resignation. The Scottish government directed by his half-brother paid William Douglas £1,289-12d for keeping the Queen.

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