George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk

Group Captain The Right Honourable The Earl of Selkirk KT GCMG GBE AFC AE PC QC
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 20 December 1955 – 13 January 1957
Prime Minister	Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	The Earl of Woolton
Succeeded by	Charles Hill

Group Captain George "Geordie" Nigel Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk KT GCMG GBE AFC AE PC QC (4 January 1906 – 24 November 1994) was a Scottish nobleman and Conservative politician.

Early life

Born at Merly, Wimborne, Dorset, he was the second son of the 13th Duke of Hamilton and Brandon and Nina Mary Benita, youngest daughter of Major R. Poore, Salisbury. He was educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, Edinburgh University (LLB) and at the University of Bonn, Vienna University and the Sorbonne. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1935, taking silk in 1959.

He played cricket for Wiltshire in the 1927 Minor Counties Championship.

He was a member of Edinburgh Town Council from 1935–40 and served as a Commissioner of General Board of Control (Scotland) from 1936–39 and as a Commissioner for Special Areas in Scotland from 1937-39. He commanded 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force from 1934-38.

Second World War

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Douglas-Hamilton joined the Royal Air Force. He served as Fighter Command's chief intelligence officer and the personal assistant to Air Chief Marshal Dowding. Douglas-Hamilton was also involved in countering the German task force operating near Ceylon.

Douglas-Hamilton was twice Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Air Force Cross in 1938 and the OBE in 1941.

He succeeded to the Earldom upon the death of his father in 1940, under the terms of a special remainder, his elder brother becoming the 14th Duke of Hamilton.

Post war activity

On 6 August 1947, Douglas-Hamilton married Audrey Sale-Barker, an alpine skiing champion and prominent aviator.

He was elected as a Scottish representative peer from 1945–63, during which time he served as a Lord in Waiting to King George VI (1951–52) and to Queen Elizabeth II (1952–53). He held Ministerial office as Paymaster-General from November 1953-December 1955, as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from December 1955-January 1957 and as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1957-October 1959.

He was UK High Commissioner for Singapore and Commissioner General for South-East Asia from 1959–63, and UK Council Representative to Southeast Asia Treaty Organization from 1960-63. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1955, and awarded the GCMG in 1959 and the GBE in 1963. He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1976. He held the office of Deputy Keeper of Holyroodhouse between 1937 until his death, the Duke of Hamilton being hereditary Keeper. He was made a Freeman of Hamilton, Scotland, in 1938. He was also an Honorary Chief of the Saulteaux Indians, 1967, and an Honorary Citizen of the City of Winnipeg and of the town of Selkirk, Manitoba.

See also

• Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton
• Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton
• Lord David Douglas-Hamilton

References

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Hamilton, George Nigel Douglas (requires subscription)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Selkirk

Political offices
Preceded by New government	Lord-in-Waiting 1951–1953	Succeeded by The Lord Hawke
Preceded by The Lord Cherwell	Paymaster-General 1953–1955	Vacant Title next held by Walter Monckton
Preceded by The Viscount Woolton	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1955–1957	Succeeded by Charles Hill
Preceded by Quintin Hogg	First Lord of the Admiralty 1957–1959	Succeeded by The Lord Carrington
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Alfred Douglas-Hamilton	Earl of Selkirk 1940–1994	Succeeded by James Douglas-Hamilton