# Douglas Sutherland > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Douglas_Sutherland > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Douglas_Sutherland.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Sutherland > Source revision: 1336051737 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British writer (1919–1995)}} {{other people||Doug Sutherland (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Douglas Chalmers Hutchinson Sutherland''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|MC}} (18 November 1919 – 28 August 1995) was a British soldier, author and journalist, best known for his biographies and the humorous ''English Gentleman'' books. ==Background== Sutherland was born in 1919 at Bongate Hall, [Appleby-in-Westmorland](/source/Appleby-in-Westmorland), [Cumbria](/source/Cumbria), England; he always joked that the error of judgement in his not being born in Scotland was compensated for a year later by his family's moving to live in the remote island of [Stronsay](/source/Stronsay) in [Orkney](/source/Orkney).{{citation needed|date=June 2008}} The family later moved to [Aberdeenshire](/source/Aberdeenshire), and Sutherland followed his elder brother to [Trinity College, Glenalmond](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Glenalmond). He joined the army in 1938 as a [Private](/source/Private_(rank)) with the [King's Own Scottish Borderers](/source/King's_Own_Scottish_Borderers), though Sutherland was later [commission](/source/Commissioned_officer)ed into the [King's (Liverpool) Regiment](/source/King's_(Liverpool)_Regiment), and saw active service during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), for which he was awarded the [Military Cross](/source/Military_Cross) and [George Cross](/source/George_Cross), twice being [mentioned in Despatches](/source/mentioned_in_Despatches).{{cn|date=June 2025}} In 1945, he was posted to [Second Lieutenant](/source/Second_Lieutenant) Sir [Bernard Montgomery](/source/Bernard_Montgomery)'s [21st Army Group](/source/21st_Army_Group) Headquarters at [Bad Oeynhausen](/source/Bad_Oeynhausen), where he joined the Allied Liaison Branch, and was an observer at the [Nuremberg Trials](/source/Nuremberg_Trials). ==Career== Returning to London, Sutherland would observe that his first challenge as a civilian was sartorial.{{citation needed|date=June 2008}} To this end, he was helped by [Oscar Hammerstein](/source/Oscar_Hammerstein_II), the American lyricist, who was a friend of his first wife [Moyra Fraser](/source/Moyra_Fraser), then a ballet dancer. Hammerstein presented him with his cast-off suits,{{citation needed|date=June 2008}} and thus attired, he began working as a journalist for the ''[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)'', and later, the ''[Daily Express](/source/Daily_Express)''. Sutherland's life during this period is affectionately depicted in ''Portrait of a Decade'', where he recalls many of the colourful characters of 1950s London, centred on [Muriel Belcher](/source/Muriel_Belcher)'s famous [Colony Room](/source/Colony_Room) in [Dean Street](/source/Dean_Street), [Soho](/source/Soho). However, he is best remembered for his best-selling humour series which began with ''[The English Gentleman](/source/The_English_Gentleman)'', and was followed by ''The English Gentleman's Wife/Child/Mistress'', and ''The English Gentleman Abroad''. A more serious side to his writing included biographies, including those of the sporting [Earl of Lonsdale](/source/Hugh_Lowther%2C_5th_Earl_of_Lonsdale) (''The Yellow Earl''), and ''Fraud'' with [Jon Connell](/source/Jolyon_Connell), founder of ''[The Week](/source/The_Week)'' magazine, the life of the international fraudster [Emil Savundra](/source/Emil_Savundra), which won the Crime Writer's [Silver Dagger Award](/source/Silver_Dagger_Award) for the best non-fiction crime book of the year.{{Cite web|url=https://thecwa.co.uk/fraud|title=The Crime Writers' Association|website=thecwa.co.uk}} In 1963, with Anthony Purdy, he published a book on the notorious spy ring of the 1950s, ''Burgess and Maclean''.{{citation needed|date=June 2008}} Prior to its publication it was rumoured that pressure to withdraw some of the book's most controversial content was placed on the authors from the British establishment, and that Sutherland and Purdy were obliged to suppress their information for reasons of national security.{{citation needed|date=June 2008}} After [Anthony Blunt](/source/Anthony_Blunt)'s exposure some twenty years later, Sutherland immediately released ''The Fourth Man'', the first full uncensored account of the intrigue. Having married three times, Sutherland settled in Scotland with his third wife Diana. His latter years were marred by ill health and a dispute over the publishing [royalties](/source/royalties) of the English Gentleman series,{{citation needed|date=June 2008}} and he died at [South Queensferry](/source/South_Queensferry) on 28 August 1995 aged 75. His children include Carol Thomas, architect Charlie Sutherland, choreographer James Sutherland, Comedian Joanna (Jojo) Sutherland and curator Adam Sutherland, director of [Grizedale Arts](/source/Grizedale_Arts).{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-douglas-sutherland-1600567.html|title=Obituary: Douglas Sutherland|date=September 11, 1995|website=The Independent}} ==Books== *''The Yellow Earl: The Life of Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale'', Cassell, 1965. *''Against the Wind: An Orkney Idyll'', Heinemann, 1966. *''Rohallion: Wild Life in a Scottish Home'', Heinemann, 1978. *''Sutherland's War'', Leo Cooper, 1984. *''Portrait of a Decade: London Life 1945-1955'', Harrap, 1988. *''Born Yesterday: Memories of a Scottish Childhood'', Canongate, 1992. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Douglas}} Category:1919 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People educated at Glenalmond College Category:20th-century Scottish autobiographers Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:King's Own Scottish Borderers soldiers Category:King's Regiment (Liverpool) soldiers Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Military personnel from Cumbria --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Douglas Sutherland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Sutherland) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Sutherland?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.