Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott


The Hon. Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott 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 Mary Monica Hope Scott in 1852, the only surviving child of James Hope-Scott and his wife Charlotte Harriet Jane née Lockhart, daughter of John Gibson Lockhart and grand-daughter of the noted Scottish novelist [Walter Scott|Sir Sir Walter Constable-Maxwell-Scott, 1st Baronet|Walter Scott]. Until her own children were born Mary Monica was the only living descendant of Sir Walter Scott.

Career

In 1868, as the heir to her father, she applied for a loan of £2,000 to have the land at Abbotsford House drained; as a minor she received her father's consent for the loan. On the death of her father in 1873 she inherited Abbotsford House, the home of Walter Scott.
Like her great-grandfather, she became a writer of historical books. She also wrote a number of books about her famous ancestor including an authoritative guide to Scott’s collection of 'gabions' titled Abbotsford: a Guide to the Personal Relics and Possessions of Sir Walter Scott.

Personal life

In London in 1874 she married the Hon. Joseph Constable-Maxwell, third son of William, Lord Herries, following which the couple adopted the surname Maxwell-Scott. Together, they were the parents of eight children, five of whom survived her, including:
Maxwell-Scott died at 7 Egerton Terrace in London in 1920, aged 67. On her death in 1920 her eldest son, Walter, inherited Abbotsford House.

Descendants

She was a grandmother of Patricia Maxwell-Scott and Dame Jean Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott.

Publications include

  • Catalogue of the Armour & Antiquities at Abbotsford, Edinburgh,
  • Abbotsford: The Personal Relics and Antiquarian Treasures of Sir Walter Scott
  • The Tragedy of Fotheringay, A. & C. Black, London
  • The Making of Abbotsford, and Incidents in Scottish History, Drawn from Various Sources
  • Henry Schomberg Kerr: Sailor and Jesuit, Longmans & Co, London
  • Alfred the Great, Catholic Truth Society, London
  • Joan of Arc, Sands & Co, London & Edinburgh
  • Gabriel Garcia Moreno
  • Madame Elizabeth de France, 1764-1794, Edward Arnold, London
  • The Life of Madame de la Rochejaquelein, Longmans & Co, London
  • Thoughts on the Holy Angels. Selected by Hon. Mrs. Maxwell-Scott, Catholic Truth Society, London
  • St. Francis de Sales and his Friends, Sands & Co, London & Edinburgh
  • The Teresa of Canada, London
  • Mary, Queen of Scots, Catholic Truth Society, London.