Sholto George Watson Douglas, 19th Earl of Morton, DL (5 November 1844 – 8 October 1935) was a major landowner in Scotland, a businessman with mining investments in what is now Svalbard,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, and politician, serving as a representative peer (1886–1935) after being elected by the Peerage of Scotland.

Biography

In the early 20th century, entrepreneurs and national governments staked claims in the Arctic

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

of Svalbard, to develop resources and mining. Britain, the Netherlands, and Denmark-Norway all had interests there, soon followed by the Russian Empire. The Earl of Morton had several Arctic interests. He and Alexander Bruce Hugh, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh had major shares in the little-known Spitzbergen Coal and Mineral Ltd of London. In 1906 Morton became involved, with his son Rory, in the Spitzbergen Mining and Exploration Syndicate (SMES). Together with other major investors, they claimed land on the island of Spitsbergen, now Svalbard,

, and that year opened a coal mine at Camp Morton. He and his sons Rory, Charley, Ronald and William sailed to

and Spitsbergen from May to July 1906 on the ''SY Latona''. The company was renamed Northern Enterprise Company Ltd (NEC) in 1910. Coal was mined there into the mid-1920s. NEC sold the properties to the Norwegian government in 1932. Douglas was elected by the Peerage of Scotland as a representative peer to the British

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 1886, serving in that position to his death on 8 October 1935. He was a landowner and resident of Conaglen House in

Ardgour Ardgour () (, meaning ''Height of the goats'') is an area of the Scottish Highlands on the western shore of Loch Linnhe. It lies north of the district of Morvern and east of the district of Sunart. Administratively it is now part of the wa ...

, Argyllshire. He served as a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

from May 1901. His eldest son, Sholto Charles, Lord Aberdour, predeceased his father on 29 September 1911. The Morton honours passed to the 19th Earl's grandson, Sholto Charles John Hay Douglas (1907–1976).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Sholto Douglas, 19th Earl of 1844 births 1935 deaths Earls of Morton Scottish representative peers Scottish landowners Deputy Lieutenants of Argyllshire