Jane Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' McNeill; 19 December 1929 – 18 April 2011) was a British duchess and model. She was a fashion model for

Norman Hartnell Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell (12 June 1901 – 8 June 1979) was a leading British fashion designer, best known for his work for the ladies of the British royal family, royal family. Hartnell gained the Royal Warrant of Appointment (United Kingdom ...

before marrying John Scott, Earl of Dalkeith, the future 9th

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch ( ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second ''suo jure'' for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of ...

and 11th

Duke of Queensberry The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 3 February 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, 1st Marquess of Queensberry. The Dukedom was he ...

Early life

The Duchess, the only child of John McNeill, QC, and his wife Amy, née Maynard, was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Her father was in practice as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in Shanghai and was

Crown Advocate Crown advocate is a title used in Britain and some former British colonies for a government prosecutor. In former British Colonies and certain British extraterritorial courts the title is (or was) used by the senior government advocate. Great Br ...

of the

British Supreme Court for China The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles o ...

from 1940 to 1942. On the onset of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

in 1937, she and her mother were sent to live at the family house in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

, although they both returned to Shanghai later. The future duchess attended Abbot's Hill School before starting to model for Norman Hartnell. Her father was appointed acting

in 1939 and to the substantive position in 1940. He was interned by the Japanese at the start of the Pacific War in 1941. He returned to England after an exchange of internees in 1942. After the war he returned to Asia to practice at the bar in Hong Kong.South China Morning Post & the Hongkong Telegraph; Apr 12, 1960, p7 Jane McNeill regularly featured in the society columns of Hong Kong's newspapers.

Marriage

McNeill's marriage to Lord Dalkeith on 10 January 1953 at St. Giles's Cathedral,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, attracted media attention, as Dalkeith had earlier been considered a potential husband of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's sister,

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

. Her wedding was a society event. Herbert Howells's organ piece, Siciliano for a High Ceremony, was written for and first performed on the occasion. Lord Dalkeith, a Conservative Member of Parliament, was thrown off a horse in 1971, and, as a result, remained paralysed from the chest down. He carried on in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

due to Lady Dalkeith's perseverance, although she herself was a sympathiser of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

. On the death of her father-in-law,

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

, in 1973, Lady Dalkeith became known as the Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry. The new duchess took courses in conservation and got involved in the Duke of Buccleuch collection. She served as a director of Buccleuch Estates. In 1979, she produced a recipe book containing McNeill family recipes and those found in Buccleuch cookbooks. The duchess was widowed in 2007 and died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2011.

Issue

The Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry had four children: * Richard Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch (b. 1954), married Lady Elizabeth Kerr, daughter of the Marquess of Lothian, and has issue two sons and two daughters. *Lord John (born 9 August 1957), married Berrin Torolsan, and lives in Istanbul, Turkey. *Lady Charlotte-Anne (born 9 January 1966), married Count Bernard de Castellane in 1991, and has issue two sons and a daughter. *Lord Damian (born 8 October 1969), married Elizabeth Powis, and has issue.

External links

Jane in her wedding dress

Movie clip of Jane's wedding

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buccleuch, Jane Scott, Duchess of 1929 births 2011 deaths British duchesses by marriage Jane Scottish female models British cookbook writers British women food writers