Stuart History

The stewards, or seneschals, of Dol in Brittany came to Scotland via England, when David I returned in 1124. They rose to high rank being created hereditary high stewards of Scotland. By marriage to Marjory, daughter of Robert the Bruce, they acquired the throne on the death of David II. Robert II, bestowed upon his younger son, John, the lands of Bute, Arran and Cumbrae. The king erected the lands into a county and conferred the office of hereditary sheriff on his son. The grant was confirmed by charter in the year 1400 by Robert III. James, sheriff of Bute between 1445 and 1449, was succeeded by his brother, William. His grandson, Ninian Stewart, was confirmed in the office of sheriff of Bute. In 1498, James IV created Ninian hereditary captain and keeper of the royal Castle of Rothesay, an honour still held by the family to this day and which is shown in their Coat of Arms. He married three times and was succeeded in 1539 by his son, James. In 1570, James was succeeded by his son, John who attended Parliament in Edinburgh as Commissioner for Bute. The family favoured the spelling of their name introduced by Mary, Queen of Scots, and the present chiefs still use it to this day.
Sir James Stuart of Bute was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I in 1627. Early in the civil war, he raised soldiers for the west of Scotland, but Sir James was forced to flee to Ireland when Cromwell was victorious. His grandson, Sir James Stuart of Bute, was appointed to manage the estates and to be colonel of the local militia on the forfeiture of the Earl of Argyll in 1681. He supported the accession of Queen Mary and William of Orange, and later, in the reign of Queen Anne, he was made a Privy Councilor. In 1703 he was created Earl of Bute, Viscount Kingarth and Lord Mount Stuart, Cumra and Inchmarnock. After the successions of George I, the Earl of Bute was appointed Commissioner for Trade and Police in Scotland, Lord Lieutenant of Bute and a lord of the bedchamber. During the rising of 1715 he commanded the Bute and Argyll militia at Inveraray. His second son, having inherited his mother’s estates of Rosehaugh, took the surname Mackenzie. He became a Member of Parliament and later envoy to Sardinia, Keeper of the Privy Seal and Privy Councillor. John Stewart, the third Earl, was tutor and confidante to Prince George. When his royal friend became George III, Bute was created a Privy Councillor and First Lord of the Treasury. He concluded a treaty with France in 1763 which brought the Seven Year’s War to an end. He retired from public life, and built a splendid house at Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire. His heir, John Lord Mount Stuart, was born in 1767, married the heiress of the Earl of Dumphries. He succeeded his father as Earl of Bute in 1792, and in 1796 he was advanced to the rank of marquess. The second Marquess consolidated the family fortunes. A noted industrialist, he was largely responsible for modern Cardiff, where he developed the docklands to be the greatest coal port in the world.
The present chief, better known as the racing driver, Johnny Dumphries, succeeded his father, the sixth Marquess in 1993. The late Lord Bute was passionately concerned for Scottish heritage, and his efforts were recognized by a knighthood shortly before his death.