Lord Douglas James Cecil Compton CBE

Lord Douglas James Cecil Compton was born on 15 Nov 1865. His father was Admiral William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton and his mother was Eliza Elliot, daughter of Admiral Hon Sir George Elliot. Lord Douglas was the youngest out of 8 children, 4 sons and 4 daughters. He entered the 9th Lancers as a lieutenant on 2 Sep 1885 and was promoted to captain on 5 Sep 1894.
Lord Douglas served throughout the Boer War of 1899 to 1902, in command of D Squadron. He fought at Belmont in November 1899 and at Enslin where the enemy position was reconnoitred and engaged by the 9th and other mounted units. On this occasion Lord Douglas, with Captain Campbell had gone forward to see if they could discover anything of a force of Boers supposed to be advancing from Ramdam. Campbell had a narrow escape and was rescued by Lord Douglas. His squadron distinguished itself at Paardefontein on 5 Sep 1901 when they were fighting alongside the Cape Mounted Rifles under Colonel Scobell. They captured Lotter and his whole Commando, 120 men. Compton’s squadron lost 7 men killed and 5 wounded in the actions outside the kraals. For this action he was awarded a brevet of major.
D Squadron also fought at Modder River, Magersfontein, the Relief of Kimberley, the operations round Paardeberg, the actions at Poplar Grove, Karree Siding, Houtnek, Zand River, near Johannesburg, Pretoria, Diamond Hill, Eland’s River, Wittebergen and at Caledon River. Lord Douglas Compton was mentioned in despatches and promoted to major on 16 May 1903.
The regiment returned to India after the war but went back to South Africa in 1906. On 15 Mar 1908 Lord Douglas was appointed commanding officer. The regiment sailed to England in 1910. At the Coronation of King George V the Lancer detachment was commanded by Lord Douglas, consisting of the 5th, 9th and 16th Lancers, 24 officers and 400 men. On 15 Mar 1912 he relinquished command of the 9th Lancers.
He served in the First World War and on 22 Feb 1917 he married Dollie Woolf. He died on 23 July 1944, aged 78. The photo shows him in civilian clothes in a group of officers in 1896.

Regimental Details | Commanding Officers