The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry | |
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 Portrait byAllan Warren, 1986 | |
| Born | Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott (1923-09-28)28 September 1923 |
| Died | 4 September 2007(2007-09-04) (aged 83) |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | 4, includingRichard |
| Parents | |
| Member of Parliament forEdinburgh North | |
| In office 1960–1973 | |
| Preceded by | William Milligan |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Fletcher |
| Personal details | |
| Education | Eton College |
Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch and 11th Duke of Queensberry,KT, VRD, JP, DL (28 September 1923 – 4 September 2007) was a Scottishpeer, politician and landowner. He served in theRoyal Naval Volunteer Reserve in theSecond World War, and representedEdinburgh North in the House of Commons for 13 years.
He owned the largest private landed estate in the United Kingdom, covering some 280,000 acres (1,100 km2). The estate includesDrumlanrig Castle inDumfries and Galloway,Bowhill House inSelkirkshire, andBoughton House inNorthamptonshire. A fourth house,Dalkeith Palace, nearEdinburgh, was most recently let to the West Central Wisconsin Consortium, which used the palace as a base for its study abroad program, until 2021.
Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott was best known by his middle name John, and he was the only son ofWalter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry, and the formerMary Lascelles. He was a direct male-line descendant ofCharles II of England. His sisterLady Elizabeth married the10th Duke of Northumberland, and Lady Caroline wed politicianIan Gilmour.
His paternal aunt wasPrincess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.
Known as Johnny Dalkeith, from hiscourtesy title ofEarl of Dalkeith, he was educated atEton.
In 1942, he joined theRoyal Navy as anordinary seaman, and was commissioned as an officer the following year, serving ondestroyers. He continued as alieutenant commander in theRoyal Naval Volunteer Reserve and theRoyal Naval Reserve after the war until 1971. He was awarded theVolunteer Reserve Decoration in 1959. He was appointed Honorary Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve in 1988. He was a Captain of theRoyal Company of Archers, Lord President of the Council andSilver Stick for Scotland. He was a member of theRoxburghe Club.
After the war, he studied atChrist Church, Oxford, where he joined theBullingdon Club. He briefly worked as amerchant banker in theCity of London, and then as a director of an insurance company.
As Earl of Dalkeith, he was aRoxburghshireCounty Councillor from 1958. He contestedEdinburgh East in the1959 general election, losing to the incumbent Labour MPGeorge Willis, but was elected as aUnionist (and latterlyConservative) Member of Parliament forEdinburgh North froma by-election in 1960. He served asParliamentary Private Secretary to theLord Advocate,William Rankine Milligan, from 1961 to 1962, then briefly as PPS to theSecretary of State for ScotlandJack Maclay from January 1962 to July that year. After Maclay was sacked inHarold Macmillan'sNight of the Long Knives, he was PPS to Maclay's successor,Michael Noble, from 1962 to 1964. He defeated a youngRobin Cook in the1970 general election.
He and his wife sustained minor injuries in a car accident atClumber Park,Nottinghamshire, on 16 August 1961, but made a full recovery. However, in a hunting accident nearHawick on 20 March 1971, his horse threw him off as it failed to take adrystone dyke, and then fell on him. Dalkeith was left paralysed from the chest down with afractured spine. He left hospital in early September 1971, and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, and became a notable spokesman for disability organisations. He was the first MP after the Second World War to enter the House of Commons chamber in a wheelchair, where he was greeted byHarold Wilson, who crossed the floor of the chamber to shake his hand, in October 1971.[1]
Dalkeith left the House of Commons in October 1973, as he succeeded to the Dukedom upon his father's death. As a result, he stood down as an MP. However, he remained a member of theHouse of Lords for the next 25 years, where he spoke particularly on rural, disability and constitutional issues, until the removal of the hereditary peers in thereforms of 1999.
The royal family reportedly wantedPrincess Margaret to marry Dalkeith, but she was not interested.[2] On 10 January 1953 he marriedJane McNeill at a ceremony atSt Giles Cathedral inEdinburgh attended by theQueen, theDuke of Edinburgh, and most of the royal family.[3] Jane, a leading fashion model forNorman Hartnell, was the only child ofJohn McNeill,QC, and the former Amy Yvonne Maynard.[4] Together, they were the parents of four children:[5]
The Duke was in the headlines in October 2003 when theMadonna with the Yarnwinder byLeonardo da Vinci was stolen fromDrumlanrig Castle. It was found in October 2007, one month after the Duke's death.[6]
The Duke died after a short illness at one of his three homes,Bowhill House, inSelkirkshire,Scottish Borders, in the early hours of 4 September 2007. He was survived by his wife, daughter, and three sons (ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren). The Duke was buried on 11 September 2007 among the ruins ofMelrose Abbey, next to his parents. His cousinthe Duke of Gloucester was among the 2,500 guests who attended the burial ceremony.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEdinburgh North 1960–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle 1992–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Roxburghshire 1974–1975 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Selkirkshire 1975 | |
| New office | Lord Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale 1975–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by | Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Queensberry 1973–2007 | Succeeded by |
| George V |  | |
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| Edward VIII |
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| George VI |
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| Elizabeth II | ||
| Charles III |
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