Anne Scott


(Duchess of Buccleuch)

1651 - 1732

Wealthy noble. Born in Dundee, the daughter of Francis Scott, 2nd Earl of Buccleuch. Following the premature deaths of her father and older sisters, she found herself the beneficiary of a substantial inheritance, estates and at the centre of political manoeuvrings on the edges of the Royal court. This resulted in a youthful marriage in 1663 to James Crofts (1649-85), the illegitimate son of King Charles II (1630-85), who later became Duke of Monmouth. As part of the arrangement, he was required to change his surname to Scott and the couple became Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Despite considerable infidelity on the part of her husband, the union produced six children before he was executed following his rebellion against King James VII in 1685. She was exonerated, kept her estates, went on to marry Charles, 3rd Lord Cornwallis, in 1688 and produced three more children. In Scotland, she oversaw the rebuilding of Dalkeith Palace as her home, while retaining considerable influence at the Stuart court in London and following the Hanoverian succession.

The Duchess died in London and lies buried at St. Nicholas's Church in Dalkeith.


Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry arrow

If you have found this information useful please consider making
a donation to help maintain and improve this resource. More info...

By using our site you agree to accept cookies, which help us serve you better