Jane Maxwell
Jane Maxwell was born Edinburgh, the daughter of Magdalen Blair of Blair, and Sir William Maxwell of Monreith, Bart.
She was brought up in her parents’ house in Edinburgh, and a favourite anecdote tells how she and her sister Betty, as small girls rode pigs from a nearby wynd. She grew up to be a great beauty and in 1767 married Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon. They had two sons and five daughters. Intelligent and witty, she famously assisted her husband in raising the 89th Regiment of Foot in 1794. The Duke and Duchess rented a house in London and the Duchess became a confidante of the prime minister and a lively member of London Tory society. She was active in the management of the Gordon estates in Scotland, and was influenced by contemporary ideas on agricultural improvement. For example, she was involved in plans to introduce flax growing and the linen industry, in establishing the village at Kingussie, and in instituting the Badenoch and Strathspey Farming Society in 1803.
By 1804 she had become estranged from her husband, who had a large family by his mistress, Jane Christie of Fochabers. The Duchess then led a peripatetic existence, dividing her time between London, Edinburgh, and a small house in the Highlands at Kinrara. She died aged 63 in Pultenay’s Hotel, Piccadilly, and at her own request was buried at Kinrara.