In the early 20th century, entrepreneurs and national governments staked claims in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, to develop resources and mining.
He and Alexander Bruce Hugh, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh had major shares in the little-known Spitzbergen Coal and Mineral Ltd of London.
Together with other major investors, they claimed land on the island of Spitsbergen, now Svalbard, Norway, and that year opened a coal mine at Camp Morton.
He and his sons Rory, Charley, Ronald and William sailed to Norway and Spitsbergen from May to July 1906 on the SY Latona.
[1] Douglas was elected by the Peerage of Scotland as a Scottish representative peer to the House of Lords in 1886, serving in that position to his death on 8 October 1935.