Francis Archibald Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig (3 February 1867–19 October 1894) was a Scottish nobleman and politician, the eldest son of the 9th Marquess of Queensberry. He was educated at Harrow School and later served as a Private Secretary to the Liberal politician Lord Rosebery. Thanks to Rosebery's patronage, on 22 June 1893 he was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Kelhead, of Kelhead in the County of Dumfries. This provided him with an seat in the House of Lords, which was denied to his father because his titles were all in the Peerage of Scotland. February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... October 19 is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... ... John Sholto Douglas (1844-1900) was an eccentric Scottish nobleman, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry and Viscount Drumlanrig. ... Harrow School Crest Harrow School is a British public school, located in Harrow on the Hill in North West London. ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party (the SDP) to form a new party which would become... The Right Honourable Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC (May 7, 1847 – May 21, 1929) was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. ...

Lord Drumlanrig's father served in Parliament from 1872 to 1880 as a representative peer, but in 1880 he refused, as an atheist, to take the religious oath of allegiance to the Queen. He was not allowed to take his seat and was never again chosen as representative peer by the Scottish nobles. His son's accession to Parliament as the 1st Baron Kelhead precipitated a bitter dispute between them and also between Queensberry and Lord Rosebery, who became Prime Minister in 1894. 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... In the United Kingdom, representative peers were individuals elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to represent them in the British House of Lords. ... It has been suggested that Nontheism be merged into this article or section. ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and Empress of India from 1 January 1877 until her death. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Shortly after his ennoblement Lord Drumlanrig died in a hunting accident in October 1894. He was unmarried and his younger brother Lord Percy Douglas became heir to his father's titles. 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

It has been speculated that Lord Drumlanrig may have had a homosexual relationship with Rosebery, and further, that Queensberry had threatened to expose Rosebery if his government did not vigorously prosecute Oscar Wilde in the affair stemming from Wilde's relationship with Francis Douglas's younger brother Lord Alfred Douglas. Rosebery was, by most accounts, happily married until the death of his wife in 1890. However, gossip that Rosebery was homosexual or bisexual was certainly widespread. Queensbery believed that, as he phrased it to Lord Alfred in a letter, "Snob Queers like Rosebery" ^[1] had corrupted his sons, and held Rosebery indirectly responsible for Francis's death. As with the suggestion that Drumlanrig's death may have been suicide, surviving evidence to support these claims is inconclusive. Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer. ... Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas KBE (October 22, 1870 – March 20, 1945), nicknamed Bosie, was the third son of John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, and the former Sibyl Montgomery. ... 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... It has been suggested that Suicide and culture be merged into this article or section. ...

Notes

1. ^  1. Lord Queensbery to Lord Alfred Douglas,1 November, 1894, in Bosie. Douglas, Murray. Hodder & Stoughton. 2000.

References

• Genealogical information from thePeerage.com
• Data on the Barony of Kelhead
• "Why was Wilde Persecuted?" from an article by A.J.H. Morris in the Queensland Bar News (2003).