John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch

John Charles Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensberry, (30 March 1864 – 19 October 1935), styled The Honourable John Montagu Douglas Scott until 1884, Lord John Montagu Douglas Scott between 1884 and 1886 and Earl of Dalkeith until 1914 was a British Member of Parliament and peer. He was the father of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.

Early life Buccleuch was born in 1864, the son of William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and Lady Louisa Hamilton. He was the second of eight children. His elder brother, Walter Henry, Earl of Dalkeith, was killed in a deer-hunting accident in Achnacary Forest, at the age of 25. Walter was unmarried, and the title of Earl of Dalkeith passed to John. He was a direct male-line descendant of Charles II. In 1881, he served as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy onboard HMS Bacchante with the grandsons of Queen Victoria – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince George of Wales, later George V of the United Kingdom. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in September 1883.

During the First World War, he vacated the family's ancestral London home, Montagu House, Whitehall, which was taken over as Government Offices. The Duke took a new London residence at No. 2 Grosvenor Place.

Career Buccleuch held the following posts: 1895–1906: Member of Parliament (MP), Conservative, for Roxburghshire 1886: Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Edinburgh Lord George Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott (8 July 1911 – 8 June 1999); he married Mary Bishop on 16 December 1938, had three children, including Charmian Rachel Montagu Douglas Scott

Death Buccleuch died from cancer at Bowhill House, Selkirkshire, Borders, Scotland, on 19 October 1935, aged 71, less than a month before his daughter Alice married Prince Henry, the third son of King George V and Queen Mary. The marriage was to take place at Westminster Abbey, but given the circumstances coupled with the king’s ill health, the event was scaled back and the venue changed to Buckingham Palace.

Buccleuch was buried on 22 October in the family crypt of the Buccleuch Memorial Chapel in St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian. The church is located on Dalkeith's High Street, at the entrance to Dalkeith Country Park.

Buccleuch was succeeded by his son Walter.

Titles, honours and awards

18 September 1886 – 5 November 1914: John Charles Montagu Douglas Scott, Earl of Dalkeith 17 July 1929: Captain General of the Royal Company of Archers 1917: Knight, Order of the Thistle (KT) 1934: Knight Grand Cross, Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) 1929: Honorary Colonel, 78th (Lowland) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery