In 1874, Scott married Rachel Cook, who had been one of the first undergraduates of the College for Women, Hitchin (later Girton College, Cambridge). She died in the midst of the dispute over Taylor's will. Their daughter Madeline married long-time "Guardian" contributor Charles Edward Montague. Their eldest son Lawrence died in 1908, aged thirty-one, after contracting tuberculosis. His middle son John became the "Manchester Guardian"'s manager and founder of the Scott Trust. Youngest son Ted, who succeeded his father as editor, drowned in a sailing accident after less than three years in the post. John and Ted Scott jointly inherited the ownership of the Manchester Guardian & Evening News Ltd.; after Ted's death John passed it on to the Scott Trust.