John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute, (27 February 1933 – 21 July 1993) was a Scottish peer, benefactor and patron of the arts. He was largely known either as Lord Bute or simply John Bute.

Life

thumb|300px|National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh

John Crichton-Stuart was born in Mayfair, London, on 27 February 1933, fifteen minutes before his twin brother, David. As such, he was the eldest son of John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of Bute, and Lady Eileen Forbes, the younger daughter of Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard, and Beatrice Mills Forbes, an American socialite who was the daughter of Ogden Mills.

He was known as Lord Cardiff before the death of his grandfather in 1947, when he became Earl of Dumfries. He attended Ampleforth College and, after national service in the Scots Guards, studied history at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Lord Bute was a private man who eschewed publicity and grand gestures and refused to take part in the activities of the House of Lords on the grounds that "the scene" was uncongenial.

From 1983 to 1988, he was Chairman of the Historic Buildings Council the forerunner to Historic Environment Scotland.

He was Lord Lieutenant of Bute and, from 1990, of Argyll and Bute.

Family

On 19 April 1955, he married, firstly, Beatrice Nicola Grace Weld-Forester (b. 19 November 1933), daughter of Wolstan Beaumont Charles Weld-Forester and wife Anne Grace Christian Stirling-Home-Drummond-Moray, and they divorced in 1977.

  • Lady Caroline Eileen Crichton-Stuart (21 February 1957 – 1984)

Appointments

  • Convener of Buteshire County Council (1967–1970)
  • Countryside Commission for Scotland (1970–1978)
  • Development Commission (1973–1978)
  • Oil Development Council for Scotland (1973–1978)
  • Council of the Royal Society of Arts (1990–1992)
  • Board of the British Council (1987–1992)
  • Scottish Standing Committee for Voluntary International Aid, Chairman/President (1964–1968/1968–1975)
  • Scottish Committee of the National Fund for Research into Crippling Diseases (1966–1993), Chairman
  • Museums Advisory Board (Scotland), Chairman (1984–1985)
  • Historic Buildings Council for Scotland (1983–1988), Chairman
  • National Galleries of Scotland, Trustee (1980–1987)
  • Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow (1992)

References

  • Drummond, Maldwin (Ed.), John Bute: An Informal Portrait (Michael Russell, 1996)