Background
Aretas Akers was born on 21 October 1851, the only son of the Rev. Aretas Akers, of Mailing Abbey, and Francis Maria, formerly Brandram.
Aretas Akers was born on 21 October 1851, the only son of the Rev. Aretas Akers, of Mailing Abbey, and Francis Maria, formerly Brandram.
He was educated at Eton and then at University College, Oxford. In 1875 he was called to the bar, the same year as he inherited estates in both Kent and Scotland and assumed the additional name Douglas in recognition of his benefactors.
After his marriage he was encouraged to take an active part in county politics, and in 1880 he was elected as Conservative M.P. for East Kent. From 1885 he represented the St. Augustine’s parliamentary constituency of Kent until his retirement in 1911. Akers-Douglas rose quickly in Conservative ranks, becoming an opposition whip in 1883. In 1885 he was appointed patronage secretary to the Conservative ministry of Lord Salisbury. After a brief interlude, William Gladstone formed a government, and Akers-Douglas was, from 1886 to 1892, appointed to the Treasury. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1891.
Akers-Douglas served as chief whip in the op¬position period from 1892 to 1895, but with Salisbury in office again in 1900 he became minister of works, and he continued in this post until 1902. In this role he was responsible for the ceremony associated with the coronation of King Edward VII at Westminster Abbey in 1902. In 1902 he became home secretary during the Conservative administration of A. J. Balfour, filling the role from August 1902 to December 1905 without controversy or ostentation. With the emergence of a Liberal government, confirmed in office by the 1906 general election, he was to play no further part in politics. He died on 15 January 1926.
He married Adeline Mary, daughter of Horatio Austin Smith, in 1875.