Up for auction RARE! "Duchess of Buccleuch" Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott Hand Written 2 Page Letter.
ES-7532E
Charlotte
Anne Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry, VA (née Thynne;
10 April 1811 – 18 March 1895) was a British peeress. A daughter of Thomas
Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath, Charlotte married Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch in
1829. They had seven children, including William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch; Henry Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Beaulieu;
and the Royal Navy admiral Lord Charles Montagu Douglas Scott. From 1841 to 1846, the
Duchess of Buccleuch served as the Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria as a member of Robert Peel's ministry. Her husband, a staunch Conservative, also served
in Peel's ministry, and the Duchess used the connection to gain patronage for
her brothers. She and the Queen remained lifelong friends, with the latter
serving as godmother to Charlotte's daughter Lady Victoria. The Duchess advised
her on Scotland, and later converted to Roman Catholicism in 1860. She engaged in philanthropic
efforts in Scotland, and died in 1895 at Ditton Park. Lady Charlotte Anne Thynne was born at the Thynne
family seat of Longleat in Wiltshire on 10 April 1811. She was the youngest daughter
and tenth child of Thomas
Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath and the Hon. Isabella Elizabeth
Byng, daughter of George Byng,
4th Viscount Torrington. Her siblings included Henry Thynne, 3rd Marquess
of Bath; Elizabeth Campbell, Countess Cawdor and Louisa Lascelles,
Countess of Harewood. On 13 March 1829 Charlotte married Walter Montagu Douglas
Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch at St George's, Hanover
Square, London, becoming Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry. He
had succeeded to the dukedom at the age of thirteen upon his father's death, and was five years older than his
wife. According to the contemporary journal The Lady's Realm, their "romantic" engagement
resulted when the young Duke visited her father and met Lady Charlotte. Upon
their parting, he saw tears in her eyes which prompted him to turn his coach
around and approach her father directly to ask for her hand in marriage. The
couple would produce three daughters and four sons. Among their children
were William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and Henry Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. In
1841, she succeeded the Duchess of Sutherland as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria.
The new prime minister, Robert Peel, personally
selected her to be a member of his newly formed ministry. The post would
later also be filled by her daughter-in-law Louisa. Her husband was a staunch Conservative and
became Lord Privy Seal in
Peel's ministry from 1842 to 1846; the Duchess used the connection to help her
brothers gain patronage. The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queen Victoria
were lifelong friends, with the monarch describing the Duchess as "an
agreeable, sensible, clever little person. In 1842 at Buckingham Palace, during Queen Victoria's preparations to
visit Scotland, the Duchess helped advise her on the country. The Duke and
Duchess helped entertain the Queen and Prince Albert when
they arrived at Dalkeith. The historian Alex Tyrrell writes
that the Duchess helped "consolidate Conservative influence in the royal
household and counteract memories of the Bedchamber Crisis. The Queen stood as godmother for the
Duchess's eldest daughter Victoria Alexandrine, who was christened at
Buckingham Palace in April 1845. The Montagu-Douglas-Scotts were patrons of the
artist Robert Thorburn, and commissioned him to paint several portraits of the
Duchess, including a double portrait of her and Lady Victoria; this was given
to Queen Victoria in 1847.
The Duchess of Buccleuch resigned the post of Mistress of the Robes in
1846, and was succeeded by the Duchess of Sutherland. She
was a member of the Royal Order of Victoria
and Albert, Third Class. The Duchess's high church faith was an influence of her brother
Revd Lord John Thynne, who was
high church canon of Westminster Abbey. She and her husband built St Mary the
Virgin, an Episcopal church in Dalkeith. To the Duke's distress, she
converted to Roman Catholicism in 1860, "after struggling with her
conscience for many years over the distress it would cause her Presbyterian
husband." Soon after being married, she befriended Cecil, Marchioness of Lothian,
another prominent Roman Catholic in Scotland The two engaged in
philanthropic work in Edinburgh together and Lady Lothian helped persuade
the Duchess to come to the decision to convert. Her brother Lord Charles also
converted to Catholicism. The Duchess enjoyed gardening and landscaping, and
spent much time overseeing the gardens of Drumlanrig Castle. Her husband died in April 1884, and
she moved to Ditton Park in
Slough, Buckinghamshire. She was much affected by the death of her son
Lord Walter; The Lady's Realm wrote that the Dowager Duchess
"never recovered" from this. She died at Ditton Park on 28 March
1895, and was buried at Dalkeith Palace. She supported the religious
congregation Poor Servants of the
Mother of God until her death, and had engaged in other
fund-raising activities as well. The Duchess was portrayed by actress Diana Rigg during Series 2 of the television drama Victoria.