Archibald Douglas, 8th Marquess of Queensberry

Douglas was the son of John Douglas, 7th Marquess of Queensberry, by Sarah Douglas, daughter of Major James Sholto Douglas. He became known by the courtesy title Viscount Drumlanrig when his father succeeded to the marquessate of Queensberry in 1837.[1]

He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1841.[2]

Lord Drumlanrig was returned to parliament for Dumfriesshire in 1847.[3] In early 1853 he was sworn of the Privy Council[4] and appointed Comptroller of the Household under Lord Aberdeen,[5] a post he held until 1856, during the last year under the premiership of Lord Palmerston.[6] In 1856 he also succeeded his father in the marquessate. However, as this was a Scottish peerage, it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords. He stood down from the House of Commons in early 1857.[3] Apart from his political career he was also Lord-Lieutenant of Dumfriesshire from 1850[7] to 1858.[8]

Lord Queensberry married Caroline Margaret Clayton (1821–1904), daughter of General Sir William Clayton, 5th Baronet, at Gretna Green, Scotland, in 1840.[1] They had six children:

• Lady Gertrude Georgina Douglas (died 1893), a writer, who married Thomas Stock.
• John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (1844–1900), the man behind the Marquess of Queensberry rules that formed the basis of modern boxing, and, much later, the downfall of author and playwright Oscar Wilde.[1]
• Lord Francis William Bouverie Douglas (1847–1865), beaten by A. W. Moore and party by a day to first ascent of the Ober Gabelhorn, killed a week later in the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn.
• Reverend Lord Archibald Edward Douglas (1850–1938).
• Lady Florence Caroline Douglas (1855–1905) (twin), war correspondent, travel writer, and feminist.
• Lord James Edward Sholto Douglas (1855–1891) (twin), married racehorse breeder Martha Lucy Hennessy[9] in 1888.[1] James committed suicide in 1891 by cutting his throat with a razor in a London hotel.

Lord Queensberry died while hunting in August 1858 aged forty, officially from the explosion of his gun.[1] However, the event was widely believed to be a suicide.[10][11] The Marchioness of Queensberry died in February 1904.[1] He is buried in the family burial ground at Gooley Hill, near Kinmount House.[12]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Archibald Douglas, 8th Marquess of Queensberry