Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon
Encyclopedia
Life
The wife of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of GordonAlexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon
Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon KT , styled Marquess of Huntly until 1752, was a Scottish nobleman, described by Kaimes as the "greatest subject in Britain", and was also known as the Cock o' the North, the traditional epithet attached to the chief of the Gordon clan.-Early life:Alexander...
, she was second daughter of Sir William Maxwell, third baronet of Monreith
Monreith
Monreith is a small seaside town located in the Machars, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland....
, Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown is a registration county in the Southern Uplands of south west Scotland. Until 1975, the county was one of the administrative counties used for local government purposes, and is now administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway...
, by his wife Magdalen Blair of Blair
Blair
Blair is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, 'blàr' meaning field or plain. It may be either a first or last name. The following are some notable persons named Blair:- As a surname :* Anthony Blair , American hanged for murder...
. She was born in Hyndford's Close, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where her mother occupied a large second-floor flat. Her sister Eglantine
Eglantine Wallace
Eglantine Wallace, Lady Wallace , was an author.She was the youngest daughter of Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet, of Monreith, Wigtownshire, and sister of Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon...
(Betty) became Lady Wallace of Craigie.
On 28 October 1767 she was married to Alexander, Duke of Gordon, at the house of her brother-in-law, Mr. Fordyce, in Argyle Street
Argyle Street
Argyle Street is the name of a street in many cities and towns. Notable among these are:Australia*Argyle Street, the Rocks, Sydney*Argyle Street, Hobart, Tasmania*Argyle Street, Fitzroy, MelbourneCanada*Argyll Road, Edmonton...
, Edinburgh. Two sons and five daughters were the result of the union. The duchess soon took the management of family affairs into her own hands. A beauty with business capacity, good nature, and ready wit, she was also foul-mouthed. She was a confidant of William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
, and sole arbitress of fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
in Edinburgh; while in London she formed a social centre of the Tory party. At her house in Pall Mall
Pall Mall
-Places:* Pall Mall, urban downtown ares of Bendigo, Australia* Pall Mall, London, a street in the City of Westminster, London* Pall Mall, Tennessee, a small unincorporated community in Fentress County, Tennessee...
, belonging to the Marquis of Buckingham, she received the hangers-on of the government during the last fourteen years of Pitt's first administration (1787–1801). She was also successful in match-making, three out of her five daughters marrying dukes, and a fourth a marquis. Her eldest daughter, Lady Charlotte, was, Nathaniel Wraxall says, destined for Pitt, but the scheme was foiled by Henry Dundas's jealousy; and she then chose Charles Lennox
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox KG, PC was a British soldier and politician and Governor General of British North America.-Background:...
, later Duke of Richmond. Wraxall also says that during the Peace of Amiens of 1802 the duchess took her family over to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to secure Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
for her youngest daughter, but failed in her purpose, and Lady Georgiana married John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, LLD, FSA , known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician and notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents...
.
On her return from Paris the duchess was accused of having said she hoped to see Napoleon Bonaparte 'breakfast in Ireland, dine in London, and sup at Gordon Castle
Gordon Castle
Gordon Castle is located in Gight, near Fochabers in Moray, Scotland. Historically known as the Bog-of-Gight, it was the principal seat of the Dukes of Gordon...
.' She quarrelled with her husband, lost her social position, and led a wandering, almost homeless life. Some of her letters written at this period (1804-6) to Francis Farquharson of Haughton, an accountant in Edinburgh and confidential adviser of both parties, were later printed in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
; it seems to have been proposed to refer points in dispute between the Duke and Duchess to Henry Erskine and Sir James Montgomery.
The Duchess died in London at Pulteney's Hotel, Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
, with her eldest son and her other children beside her, on 14 April 1812, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. She lay in state three days, and was buried, in accordance with her request, at Kinrara, Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
.