Bute Highland Games were delighted that the Marquess of Bute agreed to be our Honorary Chieftain for 2008.

JOHN COLUM CRICHTON-STUART, 7TH MARQUESS OF BUTE

Also known less formally as John Bute, the Marquess was born in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in April 1958. His family association with the island stretches back some 800 years.

A prominent figure in the world of motor sport, driving as Johnny Dumfries, he won the 1984 British Formula 3 Championship succeeding 1983 Champion, the great Ayrton Senna, who he was later to race alongside in JPS Team Lotus in the 1986 Formula 1 World Championship. Concentrating on the World Sports Prototype Championships between 1987 and 1992 he drove for Jaguar, Porsche and Mercedes. During this period he won the legendary 24 hour Le Mans race in 1988; a record breaking victory driving a Jaguar XJR-9. Jaguar’s first win at Le Mans for 31 years and one of the greatest British sporting achievements of that decade.

On the death of his father in 1993 he became head of the family and has concentrated on modernizing their business interests. One of these is the award winning Bute Fabrics who are based in Rothesay and have supplied fabrics for numerous prestigious projects across the globe including the new Queen’s Galleries in London and Edinburgh.

In 1995 he formed the Mount Stuart Trust and opened Mount Stuart together with its 300 acres of landscaped grounds to the public. This has served as a catalyst for the economic regeneration of the Island. His other landowning responsibilities are undertaken through the Bute Estate which operates an extensive property and agricultural portfolio.

The Marquess is married to Serena and has six children. His interests are numerous and include art, architecture, photography, literature, sustainable technology, organic and slow food and rural sustainability.