Claud Alexander

{{Short description|Scottish politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sir Claud Alexander | image = Sir_Claud_Alexander,_1st_Baronet_(cropped).jpg | order = 1st | office = Hagart-Alexander baronets{{!}}Baronet | term_start = 1886 | term_end = 1899 | successor = Sir Claud Alexander | constituency_MP1 = South Ayrshire | parliament1 = British | term_start1 = 1874 | term_end1 = 1885 | party = Conservative Party | alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford | unit = Grenadier Guards | battles = Crimean War | rank = Major-general<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/44579|title=Boyd Alexander|publisher=Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery|accessdate=16 November 2023}}</ref> | mawards = {{ubl|Crimean Medal and Clasp|Turkish War Medal|Order of the Medjidie 5th Class}} | birth_date = 15 January 1831 | death_date = 23 May 1899 | spouse = Eliza Speirs | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|Bt}} }}

'''Sir Claud Alexander, 1st Baronet''' (15 January 1831 – 23 May 1899) was a Scottish Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1885.

==Life== Alexander was the eldest son of Boyd Alexander and his wife Sophia Elizabeth Hobhouse, daughter of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=w_Q1AQAAMAAJ ''Members of Parliament''], page 10</ref> In 1849, he joined the Grenadier Guards. He served in the Crimean War including at the Siege of Sevastapol. He was awarded the Crimean Medal and Clasp, the Turkish War Medal and the Order of the Medjidie 5th Class. He reached the rank of Colonel in 1870. He was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.<ref name=Debrett>[https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1881londuoft#page/2/mode/2up Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881]</ref>

In 1868 Alexander stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Ayrshire South. At the 1874 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Ayrshire South. He passed the "Industrial Schools Acts Amendment Act" in 1880. He held the seat until 1885.<ref>{{Rayment-hc|a|3|date=March 2012}}</ref> He was created a baronet in 1886.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25551 |date=22 January 1886 |page=328}}</ref>

He was elected a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London (FZS) in 1903.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Zoological Society|date=20 February 1903 |page=9 |issue=37009}}</ref>

Alexander lived at Ballochmyle House, which he extended in 1886.<ref>[http://www.ayrshirescotland.com/mansions/ballochmyle.html Ayrshire Mansions]</ref> He died at the age of 68.

==Family== Alexander married Eliza Speirs, daughter of Alexander Speirs of Elderslie who was Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire.<ref name=Debrett/> He was succeeded as baronet by his son, also called Claud, who founded the British Cat Club in 1901.<ref>{{cite web|title=Short-Haired Cats|url=http://pawpeds.com/pawacademy/history/thebookofthecat/blueshorthairs1903/|access-date=25 October 2012|archive-date=21 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021045723/http://pawpeds.com/pawacademy/history/thebookofthecat/blueshorthairs1903/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{hansard-contribs | mr-Claud-Alexander| Claud Alexander}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire | years = 1874–1885 | before = Sir David Wedderburn, Bt | after = Eugene Wason }} {{s-reg|uk-bt}} {{s-new|Creation}} {{s-ttl|title=Baronet<br />'''(of Ballochmyle)''' | years=1886–1899}} {{s-aft|after=Claud Alexander}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Claud}} Category:1831 births Category:1899 deaths Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Category:UK MPs 1880–1885 Category:UK MPs 1874–1880 Category:People educated at Eton College Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War Category:Grenadier Guards officers Category:Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 5th class Category:Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) Claud