Constituency : Elgin and Nairnshire 1874-79
Alexander chalked up one of the few Liberal gains of 1874 when he took Elgin and Nairnshire from the Tories.
Alexander was the son of James Duff who became the Earl of Fife ( confusingly an Irish peerage ) in 1857. He was a great-grandson of William IV through an illegitimate line. He was educated at Eton.
Alexander became Earl of Fife in 1879. This was combined with the barony of Skeyne which gave him a seat in the Lords. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1880 to 1881 and went on a diplomatic mission to Saxony in 1882.
Queen Victoria made him a full UK peer in 1885. In 1889 he married Princess Louise, the eldest daughter of Edward Prince of Wales after which he was elevated to a duke.
Alexander was one of the founders of the Chartered Company of South Africa.
Alexander was Lord High Constable at the coronations of Edward VII and George V.
In December 1911 Alexander and his family were shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco. Although they were all rescued , he contracted pleurisy and died in Egypt the following month aged 62.
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