Douglas Proby

Douglas James Proby DL, JP (23 September 1856 – 18 November 1931), John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn, was his great-grandfather and James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, his uncle. He was educated at Eton College and matriculated on 15 January 1875 at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1879 and a Master of Arts in 1912.

Military career In January 1880, Proby was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant from the military college into the 109th Regiment of Foot. He was exchanged to the Coldstream Guards in April and when two years later the Anglo-Egyptian War erupted, he fought with the 1st Battalion . From 1897, he recruited new soldiers around Glasgow and in the following year, was advanced to major.

Political career Proby entered the British House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden in the January 1910 general election. He was appointed High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1923 and was a Justice of the Peace for Northamptonshire and for Hampshire.

Family On 6 July 1882, Proby married Lady Margaret Frances Hely-Hutchinson, daughter of Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 4th Earl of Donoughmore, and had by her four sons and a daughter.