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John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
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| Biography: John Stuart, 3d Earl of Bute |
The British statesman John Stuart, 3d Earl of Bute (1713-1792), served as prime minister under George III, over whom he exercised an unpopular influence.
John Stuart was born in Edinburgh of aristocratic Scottish parents. His father died when John was 10, and the boy was raised in England under the guardianship of two maternal uncles. In 1737, when he was 24, Bute was elected to the English Parliament as one of the Scottish peers nominated by Lord Islay. Two years later he entered the opposition, thereby severing his connection with his patron and losing his seat at the next election in 1741. He remained excluded from Parliament for the next 20 years.
For 5 years after this setback, Bute lived in retirement on the island of Bute. Though better educated than most English aristocrats - an unsympathetic contemporary described him as having "a great deal of superficial knowledge … upon matters of natural philosophy, mines, fossils, a smattering of mechanics, a little metaphysics, and a very false taste in everything" - he was much worse off financially. His Scottish estates were poor, and his immediate financial prospects had not been improved by his marriage to the daughter of Edward Wortley Montagu, a notorious miser. In 1736 she had eloped with Bute. Hence Bute failed to get anything from his father-in-law except advice to continue to live economically in Scotland.
In 1746 Bute decided to return to London. There, despite his poverty, he appeared often in aristocratic society, where he attracted attention by his great physical beauty. The most important outcome of this was an introduction to the Prince of Wales, later George III, who quickly became utterly dependent upon him. After the prince succeeded to the throne in October 1760, his dependence on Bute continued. But although Bute's views completely dominated the King's conduct, he did not become prime minister until May 1762. Then he quickly found the strain of office too great. In April 1763, despite the King's entreaties, Bute resigned. His hysterical excuses of ill health and distaste for politics have no substance; he committed political suicide because he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
For another 3 years Bute retained the confidence of George III, and his influence over the King continued to be a major source of political friction and popular grievance. He was constantly lampooned and caricatured and could not appear in public without risk of injury. Repeatedly the King undertook to end Bute's irresponsible meddling, but not until 1766 did he finally sacrifice the relationship in the interests of governmental stability. Subsequently Bute played little part in active politics, and in 1780 he retired from Parliament to spend the last years of his life in the study of literature and science. He died on March 10, 1792, and was buried on the island of Bute.
Further Reading
There is no modern biography of Bute. A useful study is James A. Lovat-Fraser, John Stuart, Earl of Bute (1912). Fascinating insights into his relationship with George III are provided in Romney Sedgwick, ed., Letters from George III to Lord Bute, 1756-1766 (1939). For background material see Sir Lewis B. Namier, England in the Age of the American Revolution (1930; 2d ed. 1962), and Richard Pares, King George III and the Politicians (1953).
Additional Sources
Lord Bute: essays in re-interpretation, Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1988.
| British History: John Stuart Bute |
Bute, John Stuart, 3rd earl of [S] (1713-92). Prime minister. Bute served as tutor to the prince of Wales from 1755, thereby acquiring an influence which gave rise to political controversy after the latter's succession as George III in 1760. Initially holding only a court appointment, Bute rose to become secretary of state in 1761 and 1st lord of the Treasury in May 1762 until his resignation the following April. Disheartened by the difficulties in implementing the theoretical reign of virtue which had so impressed his royal pupil, Bute gave up the struggle. Exaggerated fears about his continuing influence (as a ‘minister behind the curtain’) destabilized the administrations of both Grenville and Rockingham. Beyond the sphere of politics, he was not only a patron of education, literature, and the fine arts, but also a keen student of science, with a particular interest in botany.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: John Stuart, 3d earl of Bute |
Bute, John Stuart (byūt), 3d earl of, 1713-92, British politician. He was prominent as a friend of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, as early as 1747 and became the tutor of Frederick's impressionable son, the future George III. When George became king in 1760, Bute was appointed a privy councilor, first gentleman of the bedchamber, and (Mar., 1761) a secretary of state. George III's policies of destroying the Whig monopoly of political power, of making the monarch supreme over Parliament, and of ending the war with France were pursued largely under Bute's influence. After the resignation (Oct., 1761) of William Pitt (later earl of Chatham) from office, Bute became chief minister. Although he concluded the Treaty of Paris (1763), ending the increasingly unpopular war, he lacked parliamentary support and resigned shortly thereafter. George III rapidly outgrew his youthful dependence on his friend.
Bibliography
See biography by J. A. Lovat Fraser (1912); R. Sedgewick, ed., Letters from George III to Lord Bute, 1756-1766 (1936); R. Pares, George III and the Politicians (1953).
| Wikipedia: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute |
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| In office 26 May 1762 – 8 April 1763 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | The Duke of Newcastle |
| Succeeded by | George Grenville |
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| Born | 25 May 1713 Parliament Square, Edinburgh |
| Died | 10 March 1792 (age 78) Grosvenor Square, Westminster |
| Political party | Tory |
| Alma mater | Leiden University |
| Religion | Scottish Episcopal Church[1] |
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute KG, PC (25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart before 1723, was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1762–1763) under George III, and was arguably the last important favourite in British politics. He was the first Prime Minister from Scotland following the Acts of Union in 1707.
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Career
A close relative of the Clan Campbell (his mother was a daughter of the 1st Duke of Argyll), Bute succeeded to the Earldom of Bute (named after the Isle of Bute) upon the death of his father, James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute, in 1723. He was brought up thereafter by his maternal uncles, the 2nd Duke of Argyll and Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, 1st and only Earl of Ilay, Viscount and Earl of Hay. Bute studied at Eton College (1720-1728) and the University of Leiden, Netherlands (1728-1732), where he graduated with a degree in civil and public law. On 24 August 1736, he married Mary Wortley Montagu (daughter of Edward and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu), bringing the large Wortley estates to his family. In 1737, due to the influence of his uncles, he was elected a Scottish representative peer, but he was not very active in the Lords and was not reelected in 1741. For the next several years he retired to his estates in Scotland to manage his affairs and indulge his interest in botany.
During the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, Bute moved to Westminster, London, and two years later met Prince Frederick, the Prince of Wales there, soon becoming a close associate of the Prince. Upon the Prince's death in 1751, the education of his son, Prince George, the new Prince of Wales, became a priority and in 1755 Bute was appointed as his tutor. Bute arranged for the Prince and his brother Prince Edward to follow a course of lectures on natural philosophy by the itinerant lecturer Stephen Demainbray. This led to an increased interest in natural philosophy on the part of the young prince and was one in a series of events that led to the establishment of the George III Collection of natural philosophical instruments. Furthermore, following the death of the Prince Frederick, Bute became close to his widow, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the Dowager Princess of Wales. It was rumoured that the couple were having an affair, and indeed soon after John Horne (an associate of the Prince of Wales) published a scandalous pamphlet alluding to a liaison between Bute and the Princess. Rumours of this affair were almost certainly untrue, as Bute was by all indications happily married, and he held sincere religious beliefs against adultery.
Prime Minister
Main articles: Bute Ministry and Great Britain in the Seven Years War
Because of the influence he had over his pupil, Bute expected to rise quickly to political power following George's accession to the throne in 1760, but his plans were premature. Re-elected as a Scottish representative peer in 1760, he was indeed appointed the de facto Prime Minister, and was successful in ending the Whig dominance and the Seven Years' War, but King George began to see through him, and turned against him after being criticised for an official speech which the press recognised as Bute's own work. The journalist John Wilkes published a newspaper called The North Briton, in which both Bute and the Dowager Princess of Wales were savagely satirised. Bute resigned as prime minister shortly afterwards, though he remained in the House of Lords a Scottish representative peer until 1780. He remained friendly with the Dowager Princess of Wales, but her attempts to reconcile him with George III proved futile.
For the remainder of his life, Bute remained at his estate in Hampshire, from where he continued his pursuit of botany and became a major literary and artistic patron. Among his beneficiaries were Samuel Johnson, Tobias Smollett, Robert Adam, and William Robertson. He also gave considerably to the Scottish universities. His botanical work culminated in the publication of Botanical Tables Containing the Families of British Plants in 1785. He died at his home in South Audley Street, Grosvenor Square, Westminster, and was buried at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
The flowering plant genus Stuartia is named after him. According to historian John Naish, the 18th-century expression "Jack Boot" meaning a stupid person originated as disparagement of Stuart's performance as Prime Minister.[2]
Luton Hoo
The Earl held the Manor of Luton and had Luton Hoo designed and built by the neoclassical architect Robert Adam. Work commenced in 1767. The original plan had been for a grand and magnificent new house. However, this plan was never fully executed and much of the work was a remodelling of the older house. Building work was interrupted by a fire in 1771, but by 1774 the house, though incomplete, was inhabited. Dr. Samuel Johnson visiting the house in 1781 is quoted as saying, "This is one of the places I do not regret coming to see....in the house magnificence is not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to magnificence".
Issue
- Lady Mary Stuart (c. 1741-5 April 1824), who married James Lowther, later the 1st Earl of Lonsdale, on 7 September 1761.
- John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute (30 June 1744 – 16 November 1814)
- Lady Anne Stuart (born c. 1745), who married Lord Warkworth, later the 2nd Duke of Northumberland, on 2 July 1764.
- The Hon. James Archibald Stuart (19 September 1747 – 1 March 1818)
- Lady Jane Stuart (c. 1748 – 28 February 1828), who married George Macartney, later the 1st Earl Macartney, on 1 February 1768.
- The Hon. Sir Charles Stuart (January 1753 – 25 May 1801)
- The Most Rev. and Hon. William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) (March 1755 – 6 March 1822)
- Lady Caroline Stuart (before 1763–20 January 1813), who married The Hon. John Dawson, later the 1st Earl of Portarlington, on 1 January 1778.
- Lady Louisa Stuart (12 August 1757 – 4 August 1851)[3]
Styles from birth to death
- Lord Mount Stuart (1713-1723)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Bute (1723-1738)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Bute, KT (1738-1760)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Bute, KT, PC (1760-1762)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Bute, KG, PC (1762-1792)
See also
References
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bute, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of. |
- ^ Pond, Chris (12 June 2002). "Parliament and religious disabilities" (PDF). Standard Note: SN/PC/1493. Parliament of the United Kingdom. http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-01493.pdf. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ Naish, John (1996). The Interwoven Lives of George Vancouver, Archibald Menzies, Joseph Whidbey and Peter Puget: The Vancouver Voyage of 1791-1795. The Edward Mellen Press, Ltd.. ISBN 077348857X.
- ^ Miller, Karl, Stuart, Lady Louisa (1757–1851), writer in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004 & online edition, January 2006 (subscription required) accessed 2 March 2008
External links
- More about John Stuart, Earl of Bute on the Downing Street website.
- The Age of George III: The ministry of John Stuart, third Earl of Bute
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bute, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by The Earl of Holdernesse |
Secretary of State for the Northern Department 1761 – 1762 |
Succeeded by George Grenville |
| Preceded by The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
Prime Minister of Great Britain 26 May 1762 – 8 April 1763 |
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| Leader of the House of Lords 1762 – 1763 |
Succeeded by Unknown |
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| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by James Stuart |
Earl of Bute 1723 – 1792 |
Succeeded by John Stuart |
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