Duke of Buccleuch
(1806-1884)
3 September 1862

Volume 9, page 138, sitting number 11,549.

Born on 25 November 1806, Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott was the second son of Charles Montagu-Scott, 4th Duke of Buccleuch. His mother was the Honourable Harriet Katherine née Townshend, daughter of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney of St Leonards.

In 1808 his older brother George Henry died of measles at the age of 10 and Walter became the heir apparent to the Dukedoms of Buccleuch and Queensberry. He succeeded to his father’s many titles and vast estates on 20 April 1819. He was 13 years old.  

In 1822 he entertained King George IV for fourteen days at Dalkeith House, his residence in Midlothian. Twenty years later Queen Victoria was also honoured him with a visit.   

In 1826 Sir Walter Scott wrote of him that he ‘has grown up into a graceful and apparently strong young man. […] I think he will be well qualified to sustain his difficult and important task. The heart is excellent, so are the talents... With perfect good nature, he has a natural sense of his own situation, which will keep him from associating with unworthy companions.’

On 13 August 1829 at St George’s Hanover Square he married Lady Charlotte Anne Thynne, daughter of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath. Their marriage produced seven children.

In 1835 he was appointed a Knight of the Garter and in 1842 he became a Privy Counsellor. He served as Lord Privy Seal from 1842 to 1846 and as Lord President of the Council from January to July 1846 in Peel's government, when he reluctantly supported Peel's decision to repeal the Corn Laws. After Peel's fall, his political career largely came to an end. In 1878 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, a post he held until his death in 1884.

He died, aged 77, on 16 April 1884 at Bowhill in Selkirkshire. He left an estate valued at £475,050.

In Notes from the Life of an Ordinary Mortal, Adolphus George Charles Liddell later remember that ‘his great position and vast estates made him something of a grand seigneur, though his habits were simple, and his appearance rather that of an Elder of the Kirk. He always wore a dark grey cutaway coat, shepherd's plaid trousers, and a cap with a large peak, and out of doors carried a plaid over his shoulder. His manner was brusque, and he was fond of a rough sort of chaff, but no one had a kinder heart.’