Jean Maxwell-Scott
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Dame Jean Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott, DCVO (8 June 1923 – 5 May 2004) was the Laird and Chatelaine of Abbotsford which she and her elder sister, Patricia Maxwell-Scott, opened to the public, restored to its former glory, and ran for nearly five decades. She was the great-great-great-granddaughter of the novelist
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
, and on her death was his last direct descendant to live in Abbotsford. She was
lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
to
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King ...
, from 1959 to 2004.


Early life

Jean Maxwell-Scott was born on 8 June 1923 at Abbotsford, near
Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...
,
Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...
, the granddaughter of
Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott The Hon. Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott (2 October 1852 – 15 March 1920) was a Scottish author of historical novels and non-fiction and the great-granddaughter of the novelist Walter Scott. Early life She was born in Tunbridge Wells in Kent as ...
and the younger daughter of Major-General
Sir Walter Constable-Maxwell-Scott, 1st Baronet Major-General Sir Walter Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott, 1st Baronet (10 April 1875 – 3 April 1954) was a senior British Army officer. Military career Educated at Stonyhurst College,Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Kn ...
, and his first wife Mairi, daughter of Lt-Col Stewart of Lunga. Her mother died when she was 15 months old. When she was five, her father married Marie-Louise, Madame des Sincay, daughter of Major John Logan of the US Cavalry. Jean was educated at the Convent Des Oiseaux,
Westgate-on-Sea Westgate-on-Sea is a seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of Kent, England. It is within the Thanet District, Thanet Districts of England, local government district and borders the larger seaside resort of Margate. Its two sandy ...
, Kent.


Career

Her sister inherited Abbotsford on their father's death in 1954, and ran the house as a visitor attraction for the rest of her life. They did not install electricity until 1962. One or both of the sisters would greet parties themselves. In the 1960s, they had 50,000 visitors a year, peaking in the 1980s at 86,000. Not long before she died, she bemoaned the ignorance of visitors to the house:
"Only the Russians and eastern Europeans seem to read any Scott at school ... Now it's sometimes, 'Where are his Antarctic things?' Occasionally one has to be terribly tactful."
In 1959, she was appointed
lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
to
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King ...
, who lived nearby, a role she held until her death in 2004.


Patricia Maxwell-Scott

Dame Jean's elder sister
Patricia Patricia is a feminine given name of Latin language, Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician'', meaning 'noble', it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick (given name), Patrick. Another we ...
was born in Ireland at the Curragh, the British military complex outside Dublin, at a time when the sisters' father was a serving soldier, immersed in
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in Ireland. When she died in 2002, her will was found to include a clause specifying that she must "adopt and use" the surname of Scott of Abbotsford, if she was to inherit the house. Dame Jean was mystified and had no idea of such a clause, but duly complied. Her horse, "Sir Wattie", which she co-owned with Susan Luczyc-Wykorski, was ridden by
Ian Stark Ian David Stark, OBE (born 22 February 1954) is a retired Scottish equestrian who competed in the sport of eventing. Stark was born in Galashiels in the Borders in 1954 and began riding horses at the age of 10. S ...
at the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
in Seoul, winning two silver medals.


Death

Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott died at Abbotsford, Roxburghshire on 5 May 2004, aged 80. Patricia had been briefly married; Jean never married and neither sister had children.


Honours

She was made
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...
at the
1969 Birthday Honours The 1969 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in supplem ...
, then
Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...
(DCVO) in the 1984 Birthday Honours.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell-Scott, Jean 1923 births 2004 deaths Scott family (Abbotsford) People from the Scottish Borders Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Daughters of baronets