Background
Douglas was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, the eldest son of Percy Sholto Douglas, 10th Marquess of Queensberry and his first wife, Anna Maria Walters (1866-1917).
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Francis Archibald Kelhead Douglas
Edit ProfileSoldier Marquess of Queensberry
Education
He was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Career
He enlisted with the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch of the Royal Highlanders as a second lieutenant in January 1915. 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, diphtheria 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 legal 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. Following the death of his father in 1920, he succeeded him as the 11th Marquess of Queensberry.
From 1922 to 1929 he was a Scottish representative peer in the House of Lords.
In 1927, he resigned his commission from the Regular Army Reserve of Officers. In 1938, he set about to establish a sport and recreation club at Earls Court, to provide a facility for working people that matched those of the upperclass. Britain"s entry into war with Germany in 1939 called for a change of plans.
Closed since 1940 due to the blitz, the Prince Edward Theatre re-opened in 1942 as the Queensberry All-Services Club, where servicemen and women could enjoy dancing, table tennis, billiards, chess, and variety shows.
The Marquess himself contributed by working as a receptionist and waiter at the club He wrote two books relating to his family history: The Sporting Queensberrys (1942) and with Percy Colson, Oscar Wilde and the Black Douglas (1949).
Lord Queensberry was married three times. 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. She remarried Sir James Dunn, 1st baronet, and became the mother of painter Anne Dunn. The couple had two children:
Lady Jane Katherine, born 18 December 1926, married 1949 (divorced 1958) David Arthur Cory-Wright
Lord David Harrington, born 19 December 1927
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 Street Francis and Street Anthony, Crawley on 1 May with a requiem mass held 13 May at Farm Street Church in London.
The dowager Marchioness died in 1992.
Membership
He was a member of the London Stock Exchange.
