LORD Hugh Douglas-Hamilton, brother of Scotland's premier peer, the
Duke of Hamilton and of Scottish Office Minister Lord James
Douglas-Hamilton, died early yesterday from a suspected heart attack.
His wife, Sheilagh, was present when he collapsed after getting up
around 3am to go to the bathroom.
An ambulance crew and a local doctor were called to their home at
Begbie Farmhouse, Haddington, East Lothian, but efforts to revive him
failed.
The death of Lord Hugh, 48, is the latest in a series of misfortunes
which have dogged the descendants of the 14th Duke of Hamilton and
Brandon (family motto: Never Behind).
Three of the 14th duke's five sons, Hugh, Patrick, and Angus, who
succeeded to the title as 15th duke in 1973, have had much publicised
drink-driving convictions in recent years, when courts have also been
told of a series of family break-ups.
The youngest is David. James is the best known, as the Minister. Last
year, he renounced his claim to the title of Earl of Selkirk to remain
as MP for Edinburgh West but he is currently involved on behalf of his
son in a tussle with his cousin, Alasdair Douglas-Hamilton, over the
inheritance.
Lord Hugh had suffered from a depressive illness for many years and,
in February 1993, was fined #400 and banned for 18 months for driving
with more than twice the legal limit of alcohol. He had been on his way
to Herdmanflatt Hospital for urgent treatment.
His personal life was at times headline grabbing. In 1971, he shocked
his Presbyterian family by converting to Roman Catholicism in order to
marry his first wife, June, a barmaid.
That marriage over, in 1990 he announced his intention to marry an
Anglican divorcee, Ms Heather Smith, then 37. At the last minute, the
wedding was called off because of ''technical religious difficulties''.
Ms Smith said Lord Hugh had been unable to get a dispensation from the
Roman Catholic Church; Lord Hugh later said he had been jilted.
Two years later, he announced plans to wed an Edinburgh journalist, Ms
Penny Haywood, then 45, after meeting her at a party. Again, that
marriage was called off.
Finally, in May last year, he married in secret Sheilagh Ellis, a
Presbyterian, in the crypt of Westminster Cathedral in front of four
guests. Lady Sheilagh, a textile sales representative, was back at work
two days later.
Lord Hugh demonstrated a willing capacity to help others. For some
time, he cut an unlikely figure as the only Etonian aristocrat among the
volunteers serving up at an Edinburgh soup kitchen for homeless people.
In 1993, he took over as honorary secretary for the Jericho House
appeal for day-care facilities for the homeless. It is now within a
whisker of reaching its #100,000 target.
Last night, the project administrator, Mr Alan McHattie, said: ''He
did a lot of good work for us and only a few days ago was sending out
letters on behalf of the appeal.''
In another incident, Lord Hugh caught a thief and made a citizen's
arrest while a psychiatric patient in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The
thief, Alexander McKillop, had been befriended by Lord Hugh in hospital
after he had asked the aristocrat for a couple of fivers.
In the early 1980s, Lord Hugh took great interest in Tory Island off
the Donegal coast and by organising exhibitions of the Tory Island
School of Painters in Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland was
instrumental in saving the island from evacuation.
Lord Hugh came from one of Scotland's illustrious families. The
Douglas-Hamiltons have held their title since 1643 and maintain links
with the royal family. Lord Hugh's brother, Lord Patrick, holds the
title of Hereditary Keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's
residence in Scotland.
The family were immortalised in history books after one of the more
bizarre incidents of the Second World War, when Hitler's deputy, Rudolf
Hess, parachuted into a field close to the estate of the
Douglas-Hamiltons estate in East Lothian.
Hess was on a mission to meet Lord James's father, himself a
distinguished pilot, in the mistaken belief that, with his help, a peace
settlement between the Allies and Germany could be negotiated.
Thirty years after the event, Lord James described the ill-fated
flight in a book, Motive for a Mission: The Story Behind Hess's Flight
to Britain.
Paying tribute to his younger brother, Lord James said yesterday:
''Hugh had a great appreciation and love of all things to do with
Scotland. He was a larger-than-life figure and will be greatly missed by
his family and friends.''
Lord Hugh is survived by his son Brendan and daughter Kitty from his
first marriage to June Curtis in 1971.
Police said a post-mortem examination would be held but there were no
suspicious circumstances and a report would go to the fiscal.
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