MARK OF PAUL STORR, LONDON, 1805

The seventh son of Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk, and his wife Helen Hamilton (1738–1802), Thomas Douglas, Baron Daer and Shortcleugh, 5th Earl of Selkirk, (20 June 1771 - 8 April 1820) was a coloniser and author. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh to become a lawyer. But in 1794, on the death of his brother Basil, Thomas became Lord Daer and after his father's death in 1799, he became the 5th Earl of Selkirk being the last surviving son (two brothers died in infancy, two died of tuberculosis and two died of yellow fever).

At the age of seven, Thomas was almost kidnapped by John Paul Jones, commander of an American ship, but was saved by his mother's determination and resourcefulness when she suggested that the American officers might instead steal the family silver.
Jones later wrote Lady Selkirk a flowery letter of apology, proposing himself to buy back the booty from the Navy and return it to the Selkirks. Lord Selkirk wrote back that he would need the consent of the Continental Congress beforehand. The objects, which became the subject of protracted legal negotiations, were returned seven years later.

Following his inheritance in 1799, he visited Canada and founded settlements on Prince Edward Island and in Upper Canada. In 1811 he received a large grant of land from the Hudson Bay Company and founded Winnipeg. On his return to Europe he went to Pau for his health and died there in 1820, survived by his widow.