Duke of Buccleuch

Coat of arms of today's 10th Duke of Buccleuch, 12th Duke of Queensberry

Duke of Buccleuch [ bəˈkluː ] is a hereditary British title in the Peerage of Scotland .

The title is named after the hamlet of Buccleuch near Selkirk , Scottish Borders .

The respective Duke is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Scott .

Award of the title

The title was on 20 April 1663 for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth , an illegitimate son of King Charles II. Created the Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch , had married.

On the same day, she was also appointed duchess in her own right. As a result, the title did not expire when Monmouth was executed for high treason after the failure of the Monmouth Rebellion for reaching for the royal crown after the death of his father in 1685. Such awards of titles of nobility to women were rare in Scotland, unlike England and Ireland, but not uncommon.

The Scott family is thus one of the " bastard lines " of the royal house of Stuart , as are the families FitzRoy ( dukes of Grafton ), Beauclerk ( dukes of St. Albans ) and Lennox ( dukes of Richmond and Gordon ), who were also descended from the illegitimate sons of Charles II ) as well as the Catholic Fitz-James (dukes of Berwick, dukes of Alba, etc.) who were descended from the brother of Charles II.

Other titles

In 1810 the 3rd Duke inherited the title of Duke of Queensberry , also in the Peerage of Scotland, while the title of Marquess of Queensberry passed to another relative. Since then, the duke has been one of only five men in the United Kingdom to hold two or more dukedoms.

Subordinate title

The secondary titles of the Dukedom are: Earl of Buccleuch (created 1619), Earl of Dalkeith (created 1663), Lord Scott of Buccleuch (created 1606) and Lord Scott of Whitchester and Eskdaill (created 1619), all in the Peerage of Scotland.

The Duke also has two subordinate titles to the Duke of Monmouth , namely Earl of Doncaster (created 1663) and Baron Scott of Tindale (created 1663), both in the Peerage of England . These were initially confiscated after the high treason of the Duke of Monmouth, but were transferred back to the second Duke in 1742.

Finally, the title of Duke of Queensberry includes the subordinate titles Marquess of Dumfriesshire (created 1683), Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar (created 1682), Viscount of Nith, Tortholwald and Ross (created 1682) and Lord Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock ( created 1682), all in the Peerage of Scotland.

The eldest son of the respective duke uses the courtesy title Earl of Dalkeith , the eldest son that of Lord Eskdaill .

capital

The current Duke of Buccleuch is the largest private land owner in the United Kingdom. His assets of approximately £ 450 million are largely concentrated in the Buccleuch Group , which is primarily active in the real estate, agriculture, food and beverage sectors. His land holdings are estimated at around 110,000 hectares.

The family's country estates are Bowhill House , near Selkirk , which is the ancestral home of the Scott family; Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway , which was an ancestral home of the Douglas family ; and Boughton House in Northamptonshire , England , ancestral home of the Montague family. These three castles are still inhabited by the family today, but some can also be visited. Dalkeith House in Midlothian , also an old Douglas residence, has also been owned by the Scott family since 1642 but is rented out. In the past the family has owned various other manors, chateaux and castles, including the Montagu Houses in Bloomsbury and Whitehall as London residences .

Bowhill House
Drumlanrig Castle
Boughton House
Dalkeith House
Montagu House, Bloomsbury, London (demolished in 1840)
Montagu House, Whitehall, London (demolished in 1949)

List of title holders