Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose

Douglas Beresford Malise Ronald Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose, KT (7 November 1852 – 10 December 1925) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose and Chief of Clan Graham in the Scottish Highlands.

His Grace
The Duke of Montrose
KT
Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire
In office
18 July 1885 – 10 December 1925
Preceded byThe Earl of Dunmore
Succeeded byThe Viscount Younger of Leckie
Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
In office
1916–1917
Succeeded byJohn Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
30 December 1874 – 10 December 1925
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 4th Duke of Montrose
Succeeded byThe 6th Duke of Montrose
Personal details
Born
Lord Douglas Graham

7 November 1852
London, England
Died10 December 1925(1925-12-10) (aged 73)
Park District, Glasgow, Scotland
SpouseViolet Hermione Graham
Children5, including James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose and Lady Hermione Cameron
Parent(s)James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose
Hon. Caroline Horsley Beresford
Vanity Fair caricature of Montrose: "Scotland and Racing"

Early life

Lord Douglas Graham was born at St George Hanover Square in 1852, the third and eldest surviving son of the 4th Duke of Montrose and Hon. Caroline Agnes Horsley Beresford. He had two elder brothers, both named James, and thus was not expected to succeed, but both died prematurely in succession. His mother, a notorious society hostess and racehorse owner, was a daughter of John Beresford, 2nd Lord Decies, himself a grandson of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone. He was educated at Eton College and succeeded his father in 1874.[1]

Career
Portrait of the Duke of Montrose in regimental attire

He joined the Coldstream Guards in 1872, transferred to the 5th Royal Irish Lancers in 1874, and retired in 1878.[2] Later he was Colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Montrose served in the Second Boer War (medal and two clasps).[2] He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1879 and was Chancellor of the Order from 1917.[3] Montrose fought with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the First World War. He later served as Captain-General of the Royal Company of Archers, the King's Bodyguard for Scotland.

Montrose was aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and George V successively.[2] He was Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire from 1885 to 1925, Hereditary Sheriff of Dumbartonshire (now Dunbartonshire), Lord Clerk Register from 1890 until his death, and Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1916–1917.[3] In January 1900 he accepted the Presidency of the Scotland Branch of the British Empire League.[4]

Personal life

Lord Montrose married Violet Hermione Graham, daughter of Sir Frederick Ulric Graham 3rd Baronet of Netherby and his wife Lady Jane Hermione St. Maur (daughter of Edward St. Maur, 12th Duke of Somerset); they had five children:[5]

Montrose died in December 1925 in a nursing home at 6 Park Gardens in the Park District of Glasgow. He was buried at Buchanan Castle and passed on the title to his son the 6th Duke of Montrose.[5]

References
  1. Lodge, Edmund; Innes, Anne; Innes, Eliza; Innes, Maria (1877). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. London: Hurst and Blackett. p. 423.
  2. Addison, Henry Robert; Oakes, Charles Henry; Lawson, William John; Sladen, Douglas Brooke Wheelton (1914). Who's who. London: A. and C. Black. p. 1478.
  3. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1970). Armorial families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour. Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle. p. 790.
  4. "Court Circular". The Times. 17 January 1900. p. 7.
  5. Kidd, Charles (2008). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. London: Debrett's. p. 596.
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