George Duff

George Duff (1736-1818) was the fourth son of the 1st Earl, William, Lord Braco, and younger brother of James, the 2nd Earl. 

In 1757 George married Frances Dalzell (Dalziel) a wealthy young English heiress he had met and fallen in love with in Bath. The family owned slave plantations in Jamaica including the Lucky Hill estate which, after their marriage, supplied the extended Duff family with a regular supply of two of the greatest luxuries of the day, rum and sugar.

George fell passionately in love and a series of intimate letters between young George and his bride can be found in the Duff family papers at the University of Aberdeen. 

Recent research by an American academic suggests that Frances Dalzell may herself have been of mixed race. Frances grew up in Jamaica where it was not unusual for women to own slaves. Her own step-mother or mistress, Susannah Augier, was described as wealthy Jamaican resident and slave-owner, was a ‘mulatto’, meaning mixed race.