Although Alexander was born and died in Scotland, he lived in Canada for a while. He was possibly living in Canada prior to his marriage, then returned to Scotland. After he married Marjory, the family was in Canada from 1946 until 1951. They were in charge of a Camp Temagami in Northern Ontario, and lived in Toronto during the winter.

After their return to Scotland, they bought a house at Balerno, and ran a confections shop.