Karl Sabbagh - The Trials of Lady Jane Douglas: The scandal that divided 18th century Britain

PRAISE FOR

The Trials of
Lady Jane Douglas

Karl Sabbagh has investigated one of the great British scandals of the 18th Century and produced a fascinating piece of detective work. It tells us more about high society in England and Scotland at the time than most conventional histories.

Magnus Linklater,
former editor, The Scotsman

The Trials of Lady Jane Douglas

OTHER BOOKS BY KARL SABBAGH:

THE LIVING BODY

SKYSCRAPER

MAGIC OR MEDICINE

(with Rob Buckman)

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY JET

A RUM AFFAIR

POWER INTO ART

DR RIEMANNS ZEROES

PALESTINE: A PERSONAL HISTORY

YOUR CASE IS HOPELESS

REMEMBERING OUR CHILDHOOD

THE HAIR OF THE DOG

A BOOK OF KINGS

(editor)

The scandal that divided 18th century Britain

KARL SABBAGH

Published by Skyscraper Publications Limited

Talton Edge, Newbold on Stour, Warwickshire CV37 8TR

www.skyscraperpublications.com

First published 2014

Copyright 2014 Karl Sabbagh

The authors rights are fully asserted. The right of Karl Sabbagh to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Nor be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9926270-1-0

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9926270-8-9

Designed and typeset by

Chandler Book Design

Printed and bound in Great Britain

by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

The Trials of Lady Jane Douglas

by

Karl Sabbagh

Lady Jane Douglas (also called Jean and Jeanne) sister of the Duke of Douglas

Colonel John Stewart husband of Lady Jane Douglas

Archy and Sholto Douglas sons of Lady Jane and Colonel Stewart

Mrs. Helen Nelly Hewit companion to Lady Jane Douglas

Isabel Walker maid to Lady Jane Douglas

The Duke of Douglas premier Duke and richest man in Scotland

The Duchess of Douglas, formerly Margaret Peggy Mains

Mrs. Hepburn sister of the Duchess of Douglas

William Greenshield, butler at Douglas Castle

Lady Schaw friend of Lady Jane and later guardian of Archy Douglas

Mrs. Napier friend of Lady Schaw

The 6th Duke of Hamilton cousin of the Duke of Douglas, and the second richest man in Scotland

Duchess of Hamilton, formerly Miss Elizabeth Gunning, subsequently Duchess of Argyll

Archibald Stuart, (also Stewart and Steuart) agent to the Duke of Douglas, and father of Andrew Stuart

Andrew Stuart tutor to the Duke of Hamilton

James White of Stockbriggs factor to the Duke of Douglas

William Hamilton minister at Douglas Town

Baron Mure guardian to the Duke of Hamilton

The Duke and Duchess of Queensberry relatives of Archy Douglas, the Duke his guardian

In Paris:

Pierre La Marre (also Lamarre, Le Marre, Le Mar, etc) alleged midwife to Lady Jane

Franois La Marre brother of Pierre

Antoine de Sartine Louis XVs lieutenant of police

M. Buhot Inspector of Police charged with monitoring foreign subjects in Paris

M. Gilles Buhots doctor and friend of M. Menager

M. Pierre Michel Menager doctor and key witness

M. and Mme. Godefroi landlords of hotel de Chlons

Mme. Le Brun alleged landlady at the house where Lady Jane gave birth

Mme. Michel landlady of hotel dAnjou

M. and Mme. Pierre Sanry a rope dancer and his wife

Joseph Sanry their baby son

M. and Mme. Nicholas Mignon a glass-blower and his wife

Louis Mignon their baby son

Abb Hibert first told story of a stolen baby in Paris

Dr. Alexandre Cotterel cur of St. Laurent, told story to Abb Hibert

Mme. Garnier childcare nurse

M. and Mme. Maillefer syndic of Rheims and his wife

M. Duruisseau police commissioner for St Germain area

Aeneas Macdonald lawyer for Hamilton side

James Burnet lawyer for Douglas side, later Lord Monboddo

Alexander Makonochie lawyer for Douglas side

Alexander Murray lawyer for Douglas side

Alexander Murray (different from above) Sir John Stewarts brother-in-law

Francis Garden lawyer for Douglas side, and pig-lover

William Stewart friend of Lady Jane

James Carnegy lawyer for Douglas side

M. dAnjou Andrew Stuarts French legal colleague

In Edinburgh

Lord Monboddo see James Burnet

Lord Dundas Lord President of Court of Session

Lord Kames judge of Court of Session

Lord Strichen judge of Court of Session

James Boswell lawyer and biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson

In London

Lord Mansfield, formerly William Murray Lord Chief Justice

Edward Thurlow lawyer for Douglas side

James Montgomery Lord Advocate for Scotland

Charles Yorke lawyer for Hamilton side

Alexander Wedderburn lawyer for Hamilton side

Sir Fletcher Norton Attorney General, lawyer for Douglas side

Horace Walpole diarist

Lady Mary Coke diarist

Alexander Carlyle diarist

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, spoke for Hamilton in House of Lords

Lord Camden, Lord Chancellor of England

Ilay Campbell, counsel for Douglas side

Sir John Steuart of Grandtully son of Colonel Stewart and half-brother to Archy Douglas

Lady Lucy Graham daughter of the Duke of Montrose, Archy Douglas first wife

Lady Frances Dalkeith Archy Douglas second wife

William Playfair inventor, and blackmailer of Archy Douglas

J uly in Paris in 1748 was very uncomfortable. The city was hot and smelly and noisy, and infested with insects, particularly in the crowded lodgings that clustered either side of the sewer-like Seine. England and France had only recently been on opposite sides of a war, so British travellers to Paris were not the most popular visitors, although innkeepers and restaurateurs would put purse before popularity and welcome anyone with a few ecus to spend. France under Louis XIV was coming to terms with its humiliation at the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, after the so-called War of the Austrian Succession. In spite of the fact that most of Europe had been involved on one side or the other in the War, it was France and England who settled the terms of the peace, greatly to Frances disadvantage, so much so that it gave rise to the simile stupid as the Peace.

But Scots visitors, particularly Jacobites supporters of the supplanted Stuart monarchy were tolerated because of their opposition to the English government, on the principle of my enemys enemy is my friend. There was a Jacobite Scots community in Paris which bided its time out of reach of the British authorities until the restoration of a Stuart to the throne.

When a Scots couple, Sir John Stewart and his wife, Lady Jane Douglas, arrived in a hackney carriage on July 4th at the Hotel de Chlons in the Rue St Martin, they were exhausted. They had left Rheims two days ago and travelled over bumpy roads, stopping for the night at an inn in Nanteuil, where the other passengers in the coach saw little of them, as the couple ate in their rooms. Lady Janes pregnancy was obvious to all and her due date was only days away, so the couple must have been looking forward to the comforts of a well-cooked dinner and a clean bed when they arrived in Paris. They were accompanied by Lady Janes long-time companion, Nelly Hewit, a bulky, mannish woman who had known her employer since she was a girl and was fiercely loyal to her.