Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon

Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon
Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon, portrayed in a green riding habit by Daniel Gardner (around 1780). It attracts attention that the Duchess only wears one glove on her right hand. It can also be assumed that it was on purpose that Daniel Gardner painted her right hand not fully visible. Since her accident in Edinburgh the Duchess wore gloves, whenever possible, to hide the consequences of this accident where she lost one finger.
Born	Lady Jane Maxwell 1748 or 1749 Myrton Castle, Monreith
Died	14 April 1812 Pulteney's Hotel, Piccadilly, London
Spouse(s)	Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon
Children	Charlotte Lennox, Duchess of Richmond George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon Madelaine Sinclair, Lady Sinclair Susan Montagu, Duchess of Manchester Louisa Cornwallis, Marchioness Cornwallis Georgiana Russell, Duchess of Bedford Lord Alexander Gordon
Parent(s)	Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet Magdalene Blair

Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (1748 or 1749 – 14 April 1812), née Lady Jane Maxwell, was a Scottish Tory political hostess.

Together with her husband Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon and her son George, Marquess of Huntly, the future 5th Duke of Gordon she founded the Gordon Highlanders, a British Army infantry regiment that existed until 1994.

Jane was the fourth child of Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet of Monreith, and his wife Magdalene Blair. She was born at Myrton Castle the now ruined castle a short distance from the present seat of the family, Monreith House, which was not built until fifty years later.

Her father has been depicted as a drunk who allowed his family to exist in poverty in Edinburgh while he sold most of his 30,000-acre (12,000 ha) estate to make ends meet. In Edinburgh Jane lived together with her mother and her two sisters in a rented second-floor flat in Hyndford's Close near Royal Mile. As for the family living in an Edinburgh apartment, that would have been normal at that time. Titled Scottish land owning families often rented apartments in Edinburgh so their girls could receive further education, be launched on Edinburgh Society, and attend the balls. This is exactly what happened when Lady Maxwell moved there in 1760 with her three daughters: Catherine, 13; Jane, 11; and Eglantine, 9, the future Lady Wallace of Craigie.

The Monreith Maxwells would have been considered a respectable family in that era. They were closely related to the Maxwells at Caerlaverock, Earls of Nithsdale who in the 17th Century had been considered one of the most powerful families in Scotland. And their grandmother was the daughter of the 9th Earl of Eglinton, head of the great Ayrshire land owning family and distinguished Member of Parliament.