He was born in
Largs in
Ayrshire on 2 April 1814, the son of Archibald Douglas, also an advocate, and Jane Brown of Bellair on the island of St. Vincent. He attended the
High School of Edinburgh and then
Edinburgh Academy (1824–1825). He then studied law at the
University of Edinburgh. Following the
Slavery Abolition Act 1833, Francis received a considerable sum in compensation for his father's loss (his father being deceased) of 245 slaves on the Sans Souci Estate on
St Vincent. This sum, probably received around 1845, totalled £6,418. In 1839 he was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer was
John Shank More. In 1843 he left the established Church of Scotland to join the Free Church of Scotland. He was an elder at Pilrig Free Church under the Rev
William Garden Blaikie. On 7 August 1860 he oversaw, as
Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Great Review for
Queen Victoria and the Royal Family, which involved over 20,000 persons. His home for most of his life was 21 Moray Place in the fashionable West End. He died at
Melville House in
Fife on 8 August 1885. He is buried in
Dean Cemetery in the west of Edinburgh. The grave lies on the western wall at the southern end of ''Lord's Row''. ==Family==