Scottish Nobility. Marquess of Queensberry.

Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family. The Marquesses also held the title of Duke of Queensberry from 1684 to 1810, when it was inherited by the Duke of Buccleuch.

History

The feudal barony of Drumlanrig was held by Sir William Douglas, illegitimate son of the 2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar, some time before 1427, when he died. His descendant William Douglas, 9th of Drumlanrig, was created the 1st Earl of Queensberry in 1633.^[2]

The subsidiary titles of Lord Queensberry are: Earl of Queensberry (created 1633), Viscount Drumlanrig (1628) and Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibbers (1628), all in the peerage of Scotland. He is also a Scottish baronet, styled “of Kelhead”, created 26 February 1668, so the 6th Marquess was the 5th Baronet. The courtesy title used by Lord Queensberry’s eldest son and heir is Viscount Drumlanrig. There is no special courtesy title for Lord Drumlanrig’s eldest son and heir.

The family seat of the Marquesses of Queensberry was Kinmount House in the parish of Cummertrees, south Scotland, which was sold by the 9th Marquess in 1896. The traditional burial place of the Marquesses of Queensberry is the Douglas family mausoleum at Cummertrees Parish Church.

The 9th Marquess is particularly well known because of the rules of boxing that were named after him (the Marquess of Queensberry rules), and for his litigious interactionwith Oscar Wilde.

On 22 June 1893, Queen Victoria raised Francis Archibald, Viscount Drumlanrig, the heir of the 9th Marquess, to the peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Kelhead. Francis, Lord Drumlanrig, died without descendants the following year and the title “Baron Kelhead” became extinct.