From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portrait of the 4th Earl of Caledon

James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon (11 July 1846 - 27 April 1898) was a soldier and politician and the son of James Du Pre Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon and Lady Jane Grimston.

He was born at his family's home in Carlton House Terrace, London and educated Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded to the title Earl of Caledon at the age of nine on the death of his father in 1855.

In 1861, during his minority, an extensive but remote property at Castlederg, County Tyrone, known as the Derg Estate, was purchased through the Landed Estates Courtby his guardians from a kinsman of the Alexanders, Sir Robert Ferguson. The Caledon family took an active interest in the management of their estates. The 2nd and 3rd Earls made extensive improvements to the village of Caledon, erected Caledon flour mills, gave financial support to the poor of Caledon and to schools on the estate, and improved their property by draining, liming, etc. In addition, large sums of money were spent improving and extending the 'big house' at Caledon (variously known as Caledon House, Caledon Hill and Caledon Castle), and on laying out the richly ornamental demesne and gardens of over 600 acres.

As an adult, Lord Caledon was elected to sit in the House of Lords as a Representative Peer for Ireland in 1877 and was Deputy Lieutenant of County Tyrone. He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the 1st Life Guards, became a Major serving with the 4th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and fought in the Egyptian Campaign in 1882. He was also invested as a Knight of the Order of St. Patrick on November 14, 1896.

He married Lady Elizabeth Graham Graham-Toler, daughter of Hector Graham-Toler, 3rd Earl of Norbury, on October 9, 1884, and had issue:

• Eric Alexander, 5th Earl of Caledon (August 9, 1885 - July 10, 1968)
• Lt.-Col. Hon. Herbrand Charles Alexander DSO (November 28, 1888 - May 6, 1965), who fought with the 5th Lancers during the First World War and was mentioned in despatches three times, and in the Second World War as a Lieutenant Colonel of the Pioneer Corps. He married, firstly, Millicent Meredyth, only daughter of Sir Henry Meredyth, 5th Baronet, in 1919 (divorced 1927), and had issue: (i) Denis Alexander, 6th Earl of Caledon. He married, secondly, the Hon. Ada Kate Bellew (who died in 1994), daughter of the late Hon. Richard Eustace Bellew and granddaughter of Edward Bellew, 2nd Baron Bellew, in 1937.
• Field Marshal the 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (December 10, 1891 - June 16, 1969)
• Colonel Hon. William Sigismund Patrick Alexander DSO (November 16, 1895 - December 24, 1972), who fought with the Irish Guards in the First World War and was mentioned in despatches, and in the Second World War. He married Jane Buxton (who died in 1967), only daughter of the late Commander Bernard Buxton DSO RN, in 1934, and had issue: (i) Allistair Patrick Lindsay Alexander (b. 1935), (ii) Desmond Charles Alexander (b. 1938), and (iii) Annabella Elizabeth Hero Alexander (b. 1943). He was also a Deputy Lieutenant for Essex from 1956 to 1967.

Lord Caledon died on April 27, 1898 at the age of 51 in Curzon Street, Mayfair, London from blood poisoning and pneumonia. He was buried at Caledon, County Tyrone. Lady Caledon died on October 6, 1939.