| Notes |
--- "Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser" 13 Apr 1812, page 2:
The Duchess of Gordon expired on Saturday, at the Pulteney hotel. Her Grace's disorder arose from a fall, as she was about to sit down; by which accident the spine became so much injured, as almost immediately to paralyse her whole frame.
---"Kentish Gazette" 17 Apr 1812, page 2:
The Most Noble Jane, Duchess of Gordon, who died on Saturday, was the second daughter of Sir William Maxwell, a Baronet, of Monreath, in the county of Galloway, and was early celebrated for her talents as well as her beauty. Her sprightly wit, her captivating manners, and her elegant person, made her the toast of the Caledonian circle: and in the bloom of her charms she had the ambition to do more than shine in an assembly, or excel in a dance. She aimed to gain the esteem and render herself worthy the friendship of all the most eminent Literati of her country; she was the correspondent of Lord Kaimes, of Dr. Beattie, of Dr. Rbertson, of Mr. Home, and the other eminent writers of that day; and in her very exclusive correspondence with these authors, she displayed a depth of reading, a solidity of judgment, and a taste in composition, which, if her letters should ever reach the public, would place her high in the estimation of the literary world, --- with all this she was in the society of the gayest of the gay. Wherever she came she made a sort of holiday, as was happily expressed in an Impromptu by the Honourable Henry Erskine, on her Grace's saying one day during the Leith races, that there was not likely to be any sport, so she would not go. "Not go," -- says Mr. Erskine --
"--- Why that is, as if the Sun should say,
A cold dark morning this, I will not rise to-day."
Miss Jane Maxwell was married to his Grace the Duke of Gordon on the 18th of October, 1767, by whom she had two sons and five daughters, all of whom are now living (except Lord Alexander), and all of whom she had the merit of educating, with that ability, zeal, and solicitude, which secured to her the satisfaction of splendid success. She gave to the world of fashion the example of a mother devoting every moment of her life to the happiness of her family, and she had the consolation of seeing the complete triumph of her affectionate exertions. Her son George, Marquis of Huntley, remains unmarried. --- Her daughter, Lady Charlotte, is Duchess of Richmod; Lady Madeline, married first Sir Robert Sinclair, Bart. and secondly to the --- Fysh Palmer, esq.; Lady Susan is now Duchess of Manchester; Lady Louisa is the Marchioness Cornwallis; and Lady Georgiana is Duchess of Bedford. So splendid an establishment of a family is without parallel in the history of the Peerage: and it is a circumstance as extraordiary, that all these distinguished persons surrounded the bed of their revered parent, when with pious gratitude to the Giver of all Good, she anticipated her dissolution.
On Friday last, when symptoms of mortification appeared, and she felt the approach of death, she desired to have the Sacrament administered to her at two o'clock on Saturday; but afterwards feeling the rapid advance of the moment, which she contemplated with RESIgnation, she desired that she might partake of the holy rite at an earlier hour: and accordingly, together with all her children, she received the Communion and soon after breathed her last in their arms. -- By her own desire the remains of her Grace are to be conveyed for interment to her beautiful seat of Kilrara, to which place the Marquis of Huntley accompanies the body. She was in her 64th year.
--- "Caledonian Mercury" 23 Apr 1812, page 2:
FUNERAL OF THE DUCHESS OF GORDON
Thursday the remains of the Duchess of Gordon were laid out in state, at the Pulteney hotel, and were removed on Friday morning, at half-past seven, to be interred in the church of Alva, near her late beautiful residence, Kinrara, Badenoch, distant from London 520 miles. The cavalcade consisted of ---
Six Men on foot.
Six Horsemen.
A Man, bare-headed, bearing Ducal Coronet, and Cushion.
Hears, with six Horses, and Escutcheons.
Mourning Coach, with her Grace's Upper Domestics.
Ditto, Undertakers, with six Horses.
Ditto, ditto, with ditto.
Duke of Gordon's Carriage and Servants.
Marquis of Huntly's ditto.
Duchess of Richmond's ditto.
Duchess of Manchester's ditto.
Duchess of Bedford's ditto.
Marchioness Cornwallis's ditto.
Lady Madelina Palmer's ditto.
(Confined to the Family only.)
The Marquis of Huntly is to meet the funeral at Kinrara, and attends the interment.
The coffin is covered with rich crimson velvet, coronets, &c. and bears on the plate the following inscription:---
Jane Maxwell
Duchess of Gordon;
Born 1749
Obiit 11 April, 1812. Aetat 63 years.
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1749 - 1812 (63 years)
