Ronald Ross
British doctor, Nobel laureate, writer, and artist (1857 - 1932)
Lord Alfred Douglas
English poet and journalist (1870-1945)
Lord Alfred Douglas, also known as ‘Bosie’, was an English poet and journalist who had a tumultuous relationship with Oscar Wilde. Despite converting to Catholicism and later expressing antisemitic views, Douglas’ legacy is primarily defined by his association with Wilde and his contributions to homoerotic literature.
Table of Contents
Occupation
Family Info
Siblings
Percy Douglas, 10th Marquess of Queensberry
Francis Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig
Lord Sholto Douglas
Spouses
Olive Custance
Children
Raymond Wilfred Sholto Douglas
About the Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford University he edited an undergraduate journal, The Spirit Lamp, that carried a homoerotic subtext, and met Wilde, starting a close but stormy relationship. Douglas’s father, John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, abhorred it and set out to humiliate Wilde, publicly accusing him of homosexuality. Wilde sued him for criminal libel, but some intimate notes were found and Wilde was later imprisoned. On his release, he briefly lived with Douglas in Naples, but they had separated by the time Wilde died in 1900. Douglas married a poet, Olive Custance, in 1902 and had a son, Raymond.
On converting to Catholicism in 1911, he repudiated homosexuality, and in a Catholic magazine, Plain English, expressed openly antisemitic views, but rejected the policies of Nazi Germany. He was jailed for libelling Winston Churchill over claims of World War I misconduct. Douglas wrote several books of verse, some in a homoerotic Uranian genre. The phrase “The love that dare not speak its name” appears in one (Two Loves), though it is widely misattributed to Wilde.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lord Alfred Douglas was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde.
Lord Alfred Douglas met Oscar Wilde at Oxford, where he edited an undergraduate journal, The Spirit Lamp, that carried a homoerotic subtext.
Lord Alfred Douglas and Oscar Wilde had a close but stormy relationship, which ultimately led to Wilde’s imprisonment.
Lord Alfred Douglas’s father, the Marquess of Queensberry, abhorred the relationship and set out to humiliate Wilde, publicly accusing him of homosexuality.
After Wilde’s release from prison, he briefly lived with Lord Alfred Douglas in Naples, but they had separated by the time Wilde died in 1900. Lord Alfred Douglas later married a poet, Olive Custance, and had a son.
On converting to Catholicism in 1911, Lord Alfred Douglas repudiated homosexuality and expressed openly antisemitic views, but rejected the policies of Nazi Germany. He was also jailed for libelling Winston Churchill over claims of World War I misconduct.
Lord Alfred Douglas wrote several books of verse, some in a homoerotic Uranian genre. The phrase ‘The love that dare not speak its name’ appears in one of his works, though it is widely misattributed to Oscar Wilde.