Francis Archibald Kelhead Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry (17 January 1896 – 27 April 1954), styled The Honourable Francis Douglas until 1900 and Viscount Drumlanrig between 1900 and 1920 was a Scottish soldier, stockbroker and author.
Biography
Douglas was born in
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, the eldest son of
Percy Sholto Douglas, 10th Marquess of Queensberry and his first wife, Anna Maria Walters (1866-1917).
He was educated at
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
and the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst
The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...
. He enlisted with the 2nd Battalion,
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...
of the
Royal Highlanders
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...
as a
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
in January 1915. During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he served on the
Western Front and was promoted to lieutenant in October 1915 and to captain in November 1917. During his service, he suffered from severe
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...
,
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
, and temporary paralysis. Following the recommendation of the Medical Board, he was granted permission by the War Office to travel to the United States during his leave in 1916. Upon his return to the Western Front he received a gunshot wound to the leg. He applied to relinquish his commission, on account of wounds received in action, in November 1919.
After the war he became a stockbroker, dealing mostly in gold and diamond shares from South Africa,
and was a member of the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
.
Following the death of his father in 1920, he succeeded him as
Marquess of Queensberry
Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family. The Marquesses also held the title of Duke of Queensberry from 1684 to 1810, when it was inh ...
. From 1922 to 1929 he was a
Scottish representative peer
This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the Parliament of Scotland, where, as a unicameral legislature, all Scottish P ...
in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
In 1927, he resigned his commission from the Regular Army Reserve of Officers.
In 1938, Queensberry worked to establish a sport and recreation club at
Earls Court
Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
, to provide a facility for working people that matched those of the upper class. Britain's entry into
war with Germany in 1939 called for a change of plans. Closed since 1940 due to
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
, the
Prince Edward Theatre
The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London.
History
The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Ma ...
re-opened in 1942 as the Queensberry All-Services Club, where servicemen and women could enjoy dancing, table tennis, billiards, chess, and variety shows. Queensberry himself actively supported the club by working in it as a receptionist and waiter.
He wrote two books relating to his family history: ''The Sporting Queensberrys'' (1942) and with Percy Colson, ''Oscar Wilde and the Black Douglas'' (1949).
[Bibliography to article on 9th Marquess by John Davis.] Just prior to his birth, his grandfather,
John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900), was a British nobleman, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the " Queensberry Rules" that form the basis of ...
, had been the defendant in the notorious libel action brought by
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, ultimately leading to Wilde's imprisonment.
Family
Lord Queensberry was married three times. He married his first wife, Irene Clarice Richards (1899-1977), a musical comedy actress and the only daughter of Henry Williams Richards,
of Salcombe, Devon on 4 December 1917. They had one daughter:
*Lady Patricia Sybil, born 24 December 1918. Married firstly in 1938 Count
John Gerard de Bendern (divorced 1950), and secondly in 1950 (divorced 1960) Hermann Hornak.
The couple divorced in 1925. Irene remarried
Sir James Dunn
Sir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet (October 29, 1874 – January 1, 1956) was a Canadian financier and industrialist during the first half of the 20th century. He is recognized chiefly for his 1935 rescue and subsequent 20-year presidency and propri ...
, 1st baronet, and became the mother of painter
Anne Dunn
Anne Dunn (born 4 September, 1929) is an English artist associated with the second generation of the School of London.
Background and education
Born in London, England, Dunn is the daughter of the Canadian steel magnate Sir James Dunn, 1st ba ...
.
His second wife was painter
Cathleen Sabine Mann, daughter of portrait artist
Harrington Mann
Harrington Mann (7 October 1864 – 28 February 1937) was a Scottish portrait artist and decorative painter. He was a member of the Glasgow Boys movement in the 1880s.
Art career
Mann was born in Glasgow and began his studies at the Glasgow S ...
(married 18 March 1926, divorced 1946). The couple had two children:
*Lady Jane Katherine, born 18 December 1926, married 1949 (divorced 1958) David Arthur Cory-Wright,
of the
Cory-Wright baronets
*Lord
David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry
David Harrington Angus Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry (born 19 December 1929) is an Anglo-Scottish aristocrat and pottery designer. He is the elder son of Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry, and his only son by his second wife, ...
, born 19 December 1929
His third wife was Muriel Beatrice Margaret Chunn (known as "Mimi"), daughter of Arthur John Rowe Thornett of
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
,
and former wife of Albert Sydney Gore Chunn.
They married in 1947 and had one son:
*Lord Gawain Archibald Francis Douglas, born 23 May 1948
The Marquess died, aged 58, in 1954. His funeral was held at the
Friary Church of St Francis and St Anthony, Crawley
The Friary Church of St Francis and St Anthony is a Roman Catholic church in Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. The town's first permanent place of Roman Catholic worship was founded in 1861 next to a friary whose members, from ...
on 1 May with a
requiem mass
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
held 13 May at
Farm Street Church in London.
His eldest son
David, Viscount Drumlanrig, succeeded him as Marquess. The dowager Marchioness died in 1992.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queensberry, Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of
1896 births
1954 deaths
Scottish representative peers
Black Watch officers
British Army personnel of World War I
People educated at Harrow School
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Marquesses of Queensberry