Does anyone know biographical details of Edward A S Douglas?

Question

I am doin some family history research and it would be really useful to know who his grandparents were.

Answer 1

Only man I can find under that name is a minor Victorian artist named Edward Algernon Stuart Douglas.  Website artnet.com has his dates as circa 1850 to c1920.

I gather this entry from FreeBMD will be his death though, in 1918:

Deaths Sep 1918  

Douglas  Edward A S  Age69  Dorking  Vol2a page207

If age 69 was right in 1918, then you should look for a matching birth circa 1849.  The reason why you won't find one in the English BMD indexes is explained away by the 1881 census - he was born in Ireland, and recorded thus:

Elizabeth DOUGLAS   Head   Widow   Female   Age64   born London, Middlesex, England   No Occupation    

Edward A.S. DOUGLAS   Son   Ummarried   Male   Age32   born Wexford, Ireland   Artist Animal Painter    

Arthur DOUGLAS   Son   Unmarried   Male   Age30   Wexford, Ireland   Traveller In Soap    

Dwelling   1 Castelnau Cottage

Census Place Barnes, Surrey, England

Family History Library Film   1341201

Public Records Office Reference   RG11

Piece / Folio   0847 / 81

Page Number   28

And Irish genealogy, as any serious genealogist will tell you is mostly a complete dead loss.  The records just don't exist like they do in England.  The census doesn't say whether it refers to Wexford the county or Wexford the town - that small point is quite important.  It is rare for the census to be that specific in Irish birthplaces and is usually pretty generic so my guess would be the county.  If this is the right guy and someone on this board has access to Ancestry they might be able to check the 1891 and 1901 censuses for him (and even 1871 and 1861) to see if he married at any point and had children.  I've attempted to look him up in the Dictionary of National Biography and Grove Art Online, but got nothing back so can only assume he is a pretty minor figure in his field.