Lord Francis Douglas Marquess of Queensberry; a younger brother, Lord Archibald Edward Douglas (1850–1938), who became a clergyman; and a younger brother and sister, the twins Lord James Douglas (d. 1891) and Lady Florence Douglas (1855–1905), who married Sir Alexander Beaumont Churchill Dixie, 11th Baronet. He was an uncle of Oscar Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas, and a younger brother of John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry. In 1858, Douglas's father, Lord Queensberry, died in what was reported as a shooting accident, but his death was widely believed to have been suicide. In 1862, his mother, Lady Queensberry, converted to Roman Catholicism and
Lord Alfred Douglas In 1895, when during his trials Wilde was released on bail, Douglas's cousin Sholto Johnstone Douglas stood surety for £500 of the bail money. The prosecutor opted to retry the case. Wilde was convicted on 25 May 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour, first at Pentonville, then Wandsworth, then famously in Reading Gaol. Douglas was forced into exile in Europe. While in prison, Wilde wrote Douglas a long and critical letter titled "De Profundis", describing exactly what he felt about him, which Wilde was not permitted to send, but which may or may not have been sent to