The Border statesman who renounced an earldom to lead his country and twice served as Foreign Secretary.
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home was born on 2 July 1903, heir to a Scottish Border family long seated at the Hirsel in Berwickshire. He entered the House of Commons in 1931 and was at Neville Chamberlain's side as parliamentary private secretary during the events of the late 1930s, before a long illness and a steady return to front-rank politics.
On succeeding to the earldom of Home he sat in the House of Lords, where he served as Commonwealth Relations Secretary and then as Foreign Secretary. In 1963 he was invited to form a government and took the rare step of renouncing his peerage under the new Peerage Act, returning to the House of Commons in order to lead the country as Prime Minister.
Though his premiership lasted only a year, he came within a very narrow margin of winning the general election of 1964 against the odds, and he accepted the result with a grace that became part of his reputation for personal decency across the political divide.
He returned to government as Foreign Secretary from 1970 to 1974, the only person to hold that office both before and after being Prime Minister, and was later created a life peer as Baron Home of the Hirsel. He was also the only Prime Minister to have played first-class cricket.
The Douglas name, from the Gaelic for the dark water and borne by one of the mightiest houses of medieval Scotland, runs through the whole length of Scottish history. Sir Alec Douglas-Home carried it, in its Border Douglas-Home line, to the head of the British government.
Achievements
·Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1963 to 1964
·Renounced the earldom of Home to lead the country from the House of Commons
·Foreign Secretary on two separate occasions, uniquely before and after the premiership
·Created a life peer as Baron Home of the Hirsel
·The only Prime Minister to have played first-class cricket
Frequently asked
What is Sir Alec Douglas-Home famous for?
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The Border statesman who renounced an earldom to lead his country and twice served as Foreign Secretary. Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home was born on 2 July 1903, heir to a Scottish Border family long seated at the Hirsel in Berwickshire.
When was Sir Alec Douglas-Home born?
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home was born in 1903 in Mayfair, London, family seat the Hirsel, Berwickshire. The full biographical record sits on the dedicated page on Clan Rising, set alongside the wider history of the Douglas family.
When did Sir Alec Douglas-Home die?
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home died in 1995. That gave a lifespan of about 92 years.
How long did Sir Alec Douglas-Home live?
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home lived for around 92 years, from in 1903 to in 1995. The page records the substantive years in full, with the achievements and the geography that frame the life.
Where was Sir Alec Douglas-Home born?
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home was born in Mayfair, London, family seat the Hirsel, Berwickshire, in Scotland. The atlas links the birthplace to its tile page so the surrounding geography and other families of the area can be explored from the same record.
What is Sir Alec Douglas-Home's connection to the Douglas family?
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home is recorded on Clan Rising as a Douglas Clan Champion, a figure whose life is inseparable from the surname. The Clan Douglas family page sets the wider context for the name and links through to every other notable bearer.
What did Sir Alec Douglas-Home achieve?
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Headline achievements recorded for Sir Alec Douglas-Home include Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1963 to 1964, Renounced the earldom of Home to lead the country from the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary on two separate occasions, uniquely before and after the premiership and Created a life peer as Baron Home of the Hirsel. The full list and the surrounding biographical record sit on the dedicated champion page.
Was Sir Alec Douglas-Home a Douglas?
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Yes. Sir Alec Douglas-Home is filed on Clan Rising under the Douglas family. The naming convention follows the surname a diaspora reader would search for today; titles, particles and pen names sort under that same canonical surname.