Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton
Douglas Douglas - Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon KT, GCVO, AFC, PC, DL, FRGS ( born February 3, 1903 in London, † March 30, 1973 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish nobleman and aviation pioneer.
Douglas - Hamilton was a son of Alfred Douglas - Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton, and his wife Nina Poore. Douglas initially led the courtesy title Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale and was educated at Eton College and at the University of Oxford. From 1930 to 1940 he was a Member of Parliament for East Renfrewshire. Then he had a seat in the House of Lords after he had inherited his father's title.
Douglas-Hamilton was interested from an early age on the fly and therefore served in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force as an officer. As chief pilot of Houston Everest Expedition 1933, he was the first man who flew over Mount Everest. The documentary produced by this expedition Wings Over Everest 1936 was awarded an Oscar for best short film. Douglas - Hamilton was the author of the 1936 book "The Pilot's Book of Everest ".
The Duke served in World War II as an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force, responsible for air defense in southern Scotland. He was Privy Counsellor since 1940 and from 1940 to 1964, Lord Steward of the Household.
In 1941 he visited Rudolf Hess in Glasgow, where it had been brought to a crashed landing in Scotland. Hess wanted to negotiate a separate peace, and went there mistakenly believe that the Duke, who had visited in 1936 during the Olympic Games in Berlin, a main representative of a group was the United Kingdom, which stand in opposition to Prime Minister Winston Churchill and would be willing to make peace. To disguise themselves, Hess gave himself first as " Alfred Horn, a friend of the Scottish Duke " and revealed his true identity and intent only from Douglas - Hamilton personally. However, this informed Churchill, what Hess was arrested by the British authorities. A few days later the Duke had to justify and explain whether he had ever had before contact with Hess before the House. He left by Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Aviation, explained that he had previously Rudolf Hess knew personally, had no connection to him and can not immediately identify as Deputy Fuhrer him.
After the war, Douglas - Hamilton was 1948-1973 Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, a member of the Royal Company of Archers and four times Lord High Commissioner to the General Synod of the Church of Scotland. He was Director of Scottish Aviation and has held offices in various other companies.
Douglas - Hamilton was in 1937 married to Elizabeth Ivy (* 1916), daughter of Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland with whom he had the following children:
- Angus Douglas - Hamilton, 15th Duke of Hamilton ( 1938-2010 )
- James Douglas - Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas ( b. 1942 )
- Hugh Malcolm (1946-1995)
- Patrick George (* 1950)
- David Steven ( b. 1952 )
- John William ( * 1953 )