Owner Biography

John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute

The 4th Marquess of Bute
The 4th Marquess of Bute
John Crichton-Stuart, the 4th Marquess of Bute, was born June 20, 1881 and passed away April 25, 1947. He succeeded his father as marquess of Bute in 1900. He was the member of a family that descended from John Stewart (born 1360), Sheriff of Bute, a natural son of Robert II of Scotland and his mistress Moira Leitch. One of his direct ancestors was one of the Commissioners that negotiated the Union between Scotland and England.

John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, shared his father’s enthusiasm for architecture. Amongst his restoration projects were Caerphilly Castle in Wales and Robert Adam’s north side of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh. An avid collector he built up important collections of art, silver, money, stamps and furniture. He developed a particular interest in the history and culture of Morocco where he became the largest foreign landowner. At Tangier he also established the famous El Minzah hotel and became proprietor of the English language newspaper, The Tangier Gazette. In 1938 he presided over the sale of the bulk of his Cardiff properties in a deal which caused a sensation in the national press at the time.

His copy of the Inverted Jenny lost its gum on the night of September 24, 1940, when the vault at Chancery Lane Safe Deposit was flooded during a German air raid.

His copy of the Inverted Jenny was inherited by his son, the 5th Marquess of Bute.

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