Eric Alexander, 5th Earl of Caledon

British Army officer, and Irish peer (1885–1968)

The 5th Earl of Caledon in 1932

Eric James Desmond Alexander, 5th Earl of Caledon (9 August 1885 - 10 July 1968) was a soldier and the eldest son of James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Graham-Toler.

## Early life[edit]

He was born at his family's home in Carlton House Terrace, London, and succeeded to the title of Earl of Caledon upon the death of his father in 1898.[1][2] He went to Eton College from 1899 to 1903,[3] and then to Trinity College, Cambridge. He was one of the pages at the coronation of Edward VII in 1910.[4]

## Military service[edit]

Lord Caledon fought and was wounded in the First World War, served in the Baltic from 1919 to 1921, and gained the rank of Major in the service of the Life Guards.

## Personal life[edit]

Giving an interesting insight into the period, Mark Bence-Jones writes: "Her [Lady Caledon, his mother] eldest son Eric, now the Earl of Caledon, was unmarried. He had a lady-love, a marchioness with a husband and children; his mother would not have her at Caledon, so when she came to visit him she stayed at Glaslough, being given the best guest bedroom, the Mauve Room. Unfortunately for the Leslies she injured her leg motoring while she was here and was laid up in the Mauve Room for weeks, with the lovesick Eric walking over for every meal."[5]

## Legal issues[edit]

The Earl of Caledon was multiple times fined for reckless driving, sometimes in connection with his chauffeur,[6][7][8][9] and in December 1909 he was fined for aiding and abetting his chauffeur in driving an unregistered motor-car in Hampton-place, Piccadilly which had been involved in a collision with a bus in Hamilton-place.[10][11] He was also involved in a legal dispute with his mother, the Dowager Countess, over the ownership of an early copy of Holbein's Portrait of Thomas Cromwell which had apparently been sold to an American for £30,000 in 1914.[12]

## Death and legacy[edit]

Lord Caledon died unmarried in Belfast on 10 July 1968, aged 82.[citation needed] The funeral took place on 16 July in the family vault in Caledon churchyard. The Archbishop of Armagh, James McCann, took part in the service with other clerics of the Church of Ireland.[13]

A prominent Irish landowner, Lord Caledon died with about 30,000 acres.[14] The family estate was subsequently broken down to 3,000 acres and narrowly avoided complete break-up when inherited by the late Earl's nephew, Denis James Alexander, 6th Earl of Caledon.[15]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Distinguished People Dead". The Uttoxeter New Era, and General Advertiser. 11 May 1898. p. 6. Retrieved 22 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ "Death of the Earl of Caledon". The Birmingham Daily Post. 29 April 1898. p. 1. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ "The Young Earl of Caledon". The Nottingham Evening Post. 4 June 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ "Club and Society Gossip: Earl of Caledon". The Birmingham Daily Mail. 9 August 1911. p. 5. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ Life In An Irish Country House, Mark Bence-Jones (Constable, London 1996).
6. ^ "An Earl and His Motor". The Western Daily Press. 20 June 1906. p. 9. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "The Earl of Caledon and His Motor". The Western Daily Press. 12 July 1907. p. 5. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Over Forty Miles an Hour. The Earl of Caledon Fined 30 for Dangerous Driving". The Nottingham Evening Post. 12 July 1907. p. 5. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ "Earl of Caledon Again Fined". The Nottingham Evening Post. 18 July 1907. p. 7. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
10. ^ "Peer's Motoring Record: Earl of Caledon Before a Magistrate". Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette. 21 December 1909. p. 20 - via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ "Earl of Caledon Fined". The Daily Telegraph. 22 December 1909. p. 13. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
12. ^ "Ownership of a Holbein". The Tewkesbury Register. p. 6. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
13. ^ "Funeral: Earl of Caledon". The Daily Telegraph. 17 July 1968. p. 15. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
14. ^ "Obituary: Earl of Caledon". The Daily Telegraph. 11 July 1968. p. 18. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
15. ^ "Ulster Estate Escaped Break-Up". The Daily Telegraph. 21 September 1968. p. 14. Retrieved 26 September 2022 - via Newspapers.com.

### Book[edit]

* Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921). Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy. 160A, Fleet street, London, UK: London: Dean & son, limited. p. 163.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location (link)

Peerage of Ireland

Preceded by

James Alexander

|  Earl of Caledon
1898-1968  | Succeeded by

Denis Alexander