The 5th Duke Of Buccleuch And Queensbury

The huge land holdings of the Buccleuch family represent the amalgam of three dukedoms in one family: Buccleuch, Queensberry and Montagu.

By 1882, when John Baterman surveyed the aristocratic landholdings in 'Great Landowners of Great Britain', the Buccleuch estates ran to 460,108 acres, with more besides in the suburbs of London. The 5th Duke, born in 1806 and educated, naturally, at Eton, inherited the title at the age of twelve. He was a far-sighted landowner, investing considerable sums in improving his estates. Between 1835 and 1842, he invested £500,000 in a pier and breakwater at Granton, four miles from Edinburgh. He served briefly in Peel's Tory administration in the 1840s as Lord Privy Seal.

When he died in 1884, his estate was worth around £7.8m, representing about 0.73% of the then £1.075bn net national income. Today's equivalent would be over £8bn.