DUFF, George Skene (1816-1889), of Milton Duff, Elginshire; Delgaty Castle, near Turrif, Aberdeenshire

A scion of one of north-eastern Scotland’s leading Whig dynasties, Duff was a reliable but silent supporter of successive Whig and Liberal governments during his decade in the Commons. Although his political career was unremarkable, he was ‘regular and unremitting’ in his attention to parliamentary duties.1Elgin Courier, 25 June 1852.

The Duff family possessed vast estates in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Elgin. Duff’s uncle James (1776-1857), 4th earl of Fife, had been a Whig MP for Banffshire, 1818-27 and was a popular figure locally. Every year his birthday was marked with festivities across large swathes of Banffshire and Elginshire.2Elgin Courier, 10 Oct. 1845, 8 Oct. 1852. Duff’s father, Sir Alexander Duff, had represented Elgin burghs, 1826-31, on the interest of his brother Lord Fife, and was lord lieutenant of Elginshire, 1848-51.3HP Commons, 1820-1832, iv. 962-3.

Duff briefly served in the royal horse guards, 1836-7, but was not a ‘very enthusiastic soldier’. ‘An excellent French and German scholar’, he was an attaché to the British embassies in Paris and Vienna in the later 1830s.4A. Tayler, The book of the Duffs (1914), i. 221. Duff’s belief in the superiority of the British political system was strengthened by his time abroad. He later remarked that the ‘great merit’ of the British polity was that ‘it contains in it the elements of improvement, and suits itself to the exigencies of the time; and I must say, that in all the continent of Europe, there is nothing to be called a constitution’.5Aberdeen Journal, 16 June 1847.

Duff became a candidate for Elgin burghs in 1846, coming forward at the behest of local Liberals annoyed with the errant behaviour of the incumbent Whig MP.6Elgin Courier, 20 Nov. 1846. Duff did not deny his family’s strong connection with the constituency, but declared ‘I make no claim on the score of family influence, trusting entirely to my own character and principles’.7North of Scotland Gazette, qu. in Elgin Courier, 27 Nov. 1846. He ousted the incumbent after a rancorous contest at the 1847 general election. Popular locally for his ‘winning manners and private virtues’, Duff was returned unopposed at the 1852 and 1857 general elections.8Elgin Courier, 17 Dec. 1852.

In Parliament he joined his elder brother James Duff, MP for Banffshire, 1837-57, and later 5th earl of Fife, on the Whig backbenches. Duff’s parliamentary activity was confined to the division lobby during his decade in the House; he made no speeches and neither did he serve on any committees. Duff typically attended around 15% of divisions, although in 1856 he voted in 20.7%.9In 1849 he voted in 38 (17.4%) out of 219 divisions; in 1853 37 (14.3%) out of 257: Hampshire Telegraph, 20 Oct. 1849; Daily News, 21 Sept. 1853; J. Gassiot, Third letter to J.A. Roebuck (1857), 26. In 1851 and 1852 he had the twelfth worst attendance record among Scottish MPs, voting in 13.2% and 14.1% of divisions respectively, similar to his brother’s figures.10Caledonian Mercury, 8 July 1852. In 1851 he voted in 32 out of 242 divisions; in 1852 in 18 out of 127.

A self-styled independent supporter of Russell’s government, Duff backed the repeal of the navigation laws in 1849 and later told constituents that the success of free trade as ‘indisputable’.11Elgin Courier, 25 June 1852. Accordingly he sided with other free traders against the Derbyite motions for agricultural relief in the late 1840s and early 1850s. In the same period he opposed Hume’s ‘little charter’ of political reforms. Duff was also hostile to the ballot, explaining to electors that the measure had proved to be a failure in the countries where it was used.12Elgin Courant, qu. in Aberdeen Journal, 14 July 1852. Duff did, however, vote for Locke King’s motion for the equalisation of the borough and county franchises, 27 Apr. 1852, but at the general election of that year criticised Russell’s reform bill for not offering enough redistribution from small boroughs to larger towns.13Ibid. On the hustings, he also accused the Derby government of wanting to introduce a 5s. fixed duty on corn and derided their foreign policy ‘blunders’.14Ibid.

Duff supported the education bills of Scottish Whigs such as Viscount Melgund and James Moncrieff in 1850, 1851 and 1853-5, which attempted to establish a national system of unsectarian education north of the border. However, none of the bills became law due as they failed to satisfy the competing demands of Scotland’s various Presbyterian factions.15I.G.C. Hutchison, A political history of Scotland, 1832-1924 (1986), 71-83. He later reflected ruefully to a local audience, ‘Scotland has herself to thank if we have no Education Bill’.16Aberdeen Journal, 8 Apr. 1857.

Duff loyally stood by the Aberdeen coalition in the votes on financial policy necessary to sustain the Crimean War in May 1854, and opposed Roebuck’s motion for an inquiry into the army at Sebastopol which brought down the government, 29 Jan. 1855. Thereafter he became a reliable supporter of Palmerston. He opposed Cobden’s motion, 3 Apr. 1857, and at the ensuing general election praised Palmerston for restoring ‘confidence both at home and abroad’, and voted with the government against Cobden’s Canton motion, 3 Mar. 1857.17Elgin Courier, 3 Apr. 1857. During his election speeches he also expressed his approval of the Scottish measures passed by Moncrieff, the Lord Advocate, 1852-8, such as the Valuation and Registration of Voters Acts.18Aberdeen Journal, 8 Apr. 1857. Like most Scottish MPs he divided against the Sunday opening of the British Museum and other public institutions, 21 Feb. 1856, probably in deference to Sabbatarian feeling north of the border. His votes against Spooner’s anti-Maynooth motions was perhaps more unusual. He was also a consistent supporter of Jewish relief.

Duff resigned in December 1857 citing ill-health. His replacement was his distant kinsman Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, who represented Elgin burghs until 1881. In later life Duff resided in Bournemouth, but frequently returned to Montcoffer House, Banff. ‘A crack game shot, and a keen fisherman’, Duff was a famous deerstalker. In August 1880 he brought down no fewer than eight stags, ‘three with royal heads, four with eleven tines, and the other scarcely inferior’. This was ‘without parallel in the annals of deerstalking in Scotland’.19A. Tayler, Book of the Duffs (1914), i. 222.

Duff served as lord lieutenant of Elgin, 1856-72, and died a bachelor in 1889. His nephew Alexander William George Duff (1849-1912), was Liberal MP for Elgin and Nairn, 1874-9, and later the 6th earl of Fife. He was created the 1st duke of Fife after his marriage to Princess Louise in 1889.