Abb Fab: The Women of Abbotsford - Sophia & Anne

Sophia and Anne – the next generation 

Charlotte, Lady Scott, had two daughters, Sophia and Anne.  With their two brothers, the girls grew up in an incredibly busy household, commuting between Edinburgh and the Borders, first to Ashestiel and later Abbotsford. Their father was becoming an international celebrity, and visitors from all over the world would frequently arrive on the doorstep, often uninvited.  When they were teenagers, they practically lived on a building site, with Abbotsford as we know it today, rising around them. Scott and Charlotte enjoyed spending time with their children (not a given at the time), and Charlotte educated the girls herself. They enjoyed music, dancing and playing games, and were socially confident from a young age because they were included in much of the hospitality the Scotts so generously bestowed upon visitors.  

Sophia Scott (1799-1837), watercolour by William Nicholson, 1818. 

 © The Faculty of Advocates Abbotsford Collection Trust

Anne Scott (1803-1833), watercolour by William Nicholson, 1818 

© The Faculty of Advocates Abbotsford Collection Trust

But like their mother and grandmother, their material legacy is scant. Two watercolours of the sisters, aged 18 and 15, hang in the Chinese Drawing Room at Abbotsford, both depicted in fancy dress. We don’t know why. Is it testament to a carefree, joyful childhood? We don’t know. They certainly had an unusual upbringing, on the one hand the daughters of a respectable Edinburgh lawyer growing up in a close-knit kinship group and on the other the children of a world-famous writer and friend of kings. There is so much we don’t know about their lives, and so much to find out. 

Sophia was the oldest child and always considered her father’s favourite, yet it was Anne who cared for her parents in their later years. We know little about the girls’ relationship with their mother.  

 As Sophia grew older, she occupied a key organisational role in the family, keeping everyone updated on family news. She married the literary critic and editor John Gibson Lockhart, her father’s protégé, in 1820. In 1825, the couple relocated to London, visiting Abbotsford only in the summer months, where they stayed at Chiefswood, near Melrose. Sophia was very musical, like her mother, and the harp that Lockhart bought for her shortly after their wedding is now here at Abbotsford. Sophia bore the only grandchildren of Charlotte and Walter Scott: a son, John Hugh, in 1821, Walter Scott Lockhart in 1826 and then Charlotte in 1828. Only Charlotte went on to have children of her own.  

Anne, the younger sister, remained unmarried and stayed at home with her parents throughout her short life. Anne’s surviving letters reveal a great deal of her playful personality and her quick wit and tongue. Her relationship with her elder sister was competitive and not without occasional sparring. She looked after her mother during her years of ill health and never fully recovered from the stress and shock of caring for her. During the difficult years following Charlotte’s death, she also became her father’s carer and took over the running of the household. Only six months after her father death, Anne passed away herself, aged only 29. Her sister also died young, at 37. 

Next month, we will look more into Anne's story.

Click here to read last month's Abb Fab post, where we delve into the life of Charlotte Charpentier.