Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Scott, Charles Thomas Montagu-Douglas
SCOTT, Lord CHARLES THOMAS MONTAGU-DOUGLAS- (1839–1911), admiral, born at Montagu House, Whitehall, on 20 Oct. 1839, was fourth son of Walter Francis Scott, fifth duke of Buccleuch [q. v.], by his wife Charlotte Ann Le Thynne (d. 1895), youngest daughter of Thomas, second marquess of Bath. After beginning his education at Radley, he entered the navy on 1 May 1853 as a cadet on board the St. Jean d'Acre, then newly commissioned by Captain Keppel [see Keppel, Sir Henry, Suppl. II]. In her Scott took part in the Baltic campaign of 1854, being present at the capture of Bomarsund, and in 1855 saw further active service in the Black Sea. He received the Baltic, Crimean, and Turkish medals. In Nov. 1856 he followed Keppel into the Raleigh, going out to the China station, and after the wreck of the ship in April 1857 served in the tenders to which the officers and crew were transferred. He was thus present at the engagements at Escape Creek, Fatshan Creek, and other boat actions in the Canton River in June and July 1857, for which he received the China medal with Fatshan clasp. In July he was appointed to the Pearl, Capt. Sotheby [see Sotheby, Sir Edward Southwell, Suppl. II], which with the Shannon was ordered from Hong Kong to Calcutta on the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny. Scott landed with the Pearl's naval brigade in Sept. 1857, and served ashore with it till the end of the following year, the brigade forming part of the Goruckpore field force during the operations in Oudh. Lord Charles was twice specially mentioned in despatches, for gallant conduct at Chanderpore on 17 Feb. 1858, and again for having, with three others, captured and turned upon the enemy one of their own guns at the battle of Belwa on 5 March. He received the Indian medal and, having passed his examination on 21 May 1859, was specially promoted to lieutenant on 19 July following. In that rank he served on board the Forte, Keppel's flagship, on the Cape of Good Hope and south-east coast of America stations, and in June 1861 was appointed to the frigate Emerald, attached to the Channel Squadron. From Nov. 1863 until he was promoted to commander on 12 Sept. 1865 he was a lieutenant of the royal yacht. Early in 1868 he went out to the China station to take command of the sloop Icarus, and in Nov. of that year served as second in command of the naval brigade under Capt. Algernon Heneage landed for the protection of British subjects at Yangchow; in December he commanded a flotilla of boats which, in co-operation with a naval brigade under Commodore Oliver Jones, destroyed three piratical villages near Swatow. He returned home in 1871, and was promoted to captain on 6 Feb. 1872.
From 1875 to 1877 Lord Charles commanded the Narcissus, flagship of the detached squadron, and in July 1879 commissioned the Bacchante, in which ship he had the immediate charge of the loyal cadets, Albert Victor, duke of Clarence and Avondale, and his younger brother George (subsequently King George V), who made their first cruise in her. The Bacchante went first to the Mediterranean, and to the West Indies and back; then, after cruising for a short time with the Channel squadron, she joined the flag of Rear-admiral the earl of Clanwilliam [see Meade, Richard James, fourth Earl of Clanwilliam, Suppl. II], commanding the detached squadron. The squadron, after touching at Monte Video and the Falkland Islands, went to Simon's Bay, Australia, Japan, and China, and returned home by way of Singapore and the Mediterranean in 1882. For this service Scott was awarded the C.B. (civil). In 1885 and 1886 he commanded the Agincourt in the Channel, and in Jan. 1887 became captain of the dockyard at Chatham. He was an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria from June 1886 until promoted to his flag on 3 April 1888. For three years from Sept. 1889 Lord Charles was commander-in-chief on the Australian station; on 10 March 1894 he was promoted to vice-admiral, and in May 1898 he was made a K.C.B. (military). On 30 June 1899 he reached the rank of admiral, and in March 1900 was appointed commander-in-chief at Plymouth, where he remained for the customary three years. He was advanced to the G.C.B. on 9 Nov. 1902, and retired on 20 Oct. 1904. He died, after a long illness, on 21 Aug. 1911 at Boughton House, near Kettering.
Lord Charles married on 23 Feb. 1883 Ada Mary, daughter of Charles Ryan of Derriweit Heights, Macedon, Victoria, Australia, by whom he had issue two sons.
[The Times, 23 Aug. 1911; R. N. List; Burke's Peerage; Dalton's Cruise of H.M.S. Bacchante, 1886.]