John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute
The Most Honourable The Marquess of Bute | |
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Born | John Colum Crichton-Stuart 26 April 1958 Rothesay, Buteshire, now Argyll and Bute, Scotland |
Died | 22 March 2021 | (aged 62)
Other names | Johnny Dumfries John Bute |
Education | Ampleforth College |
Occupation | Racing driver |
Spouse(s) | Carolyn Waddell
(m. 1984; div. 1993)Serena Solitaire Wendell
(m. 1999) |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute Beatrice Weld-Forester |
Formula One World Championship career | |
Nationality | ![]() |
Active years | 1986 |
Teams | Lotus |
Entries | 16 (15 starts) |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Career points | 3 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1986 Australian Grand Prix |
24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
Years | 1987 – 1991 |
Teams | Kouros Racing Silk Cut Jaguar/TWR Toyota Team Tom's Courage Compétition |
Best finish | 1st (1988) |
Class wins | 1 (1988) |
John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (26 April 1958 – 22 March 2021),[1] styled Earl of Dumfries before 1993, was a Scottish peer and a racing driver, most notably winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did not use his title and preferred to be known solely as John Bute, although he had previously been called Johnny Dumfries before his accession to the Marquessate.[2] The family home is Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute. He attended Ampleforth College, as had his father and most male members of the Crichton-Stuart family, but did not finish the normal five years of study.
Life[]
Bute was born in Rothesay, Argyll and Bute, into one of Scotland's oldest aristocratic families, the son of Beatrice Nicola Grace Weld-Forester and John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute, and the descendant of a British Prime Minister. Bute was heir to a large fortune, and turned his back on an expensive education at Ampleforth College and set about pursuing a career in motor racing.[3]
In 1984, Bute, then known as Johnny Dumfries, was the sensation of the F3 season, scoring 14 race victories on his way to winning, and completely dominating, the British Formula 3 Championship for Team BP (Dave Price Racing). He also finished runner-up to Ivan Capelli in the European Formula Three Championship that year. In 1985, he graduated to the newly created FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, initially competing for Onyx Race Engineering before switching to Lola Motorsport. It was a disappointing season, with a sixth-place finish in Vallelunga being the highlight of the year.[citation needed]
In 1986, he made his breakthrough into F1, and raced a single season for the JPS Team Lotus. He was a late addition to the team, apparently as a result of Ayrton Senna not wanting Derek Warwick as a teammate.[3] He competed in 15 Grands Prix for Lotus (not qualifying at Monaco), which used the turbocharged Renault engines and scored 3 championship points.[4] During most of the 1986 season he was usually one of the midfield drivers, on par with the Tyrrell drivers Martin Brundle and Philippe Streiff.[citation needed] He was replaced for 1987 by the Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima as part of Lotus's deal to use Honda engines from that season onwards.
In 1988, Bute scored the biggest racing victory of his career when he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, driving a Jaguar XJR-9 for Tom Walkinshaw's Silk Cut Jaguar Team alongside Dutchman Jan Lammers and Englishman Andy Wallace.[5]
Bute also participated in the 1-hour endurance race in the 1988 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park with fellow ex-F1 Briton Guy Edwards for Andy Rouse's Kaliber Racing team in Ford Sierra RS500, finishing third overall and in Class A.
He died of cancer in March 2021.[6]
Wealth[]
Bute ranked 616th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, with an estimated wealth of £125m. In the 2006 list, he ranked 26th in Scotland with £122m.
He lived with his family in London and at the ancestral seat Mount Stuart House, 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. In December 2020 he was charged with breaching COVID-19 regulations for allegedly travelling with others to his Isle of Bute home.[7][8]
In 2007, the other family home Dumfries House in Cumnock, Ayrshire, was sold to the nation for £45 million.[9]
Marriages and children[]
In 1984, he married Carolyn E. R. M. "Freddy" Waddell, daughter of Robert Bryson Waddell (1915 - 1976) and wife (1954) Rose M. H. Tyssens. They were divorced in 1993. They had three children:
- Lady Caroline Crichton-Stuart (b. 26 September 1984)
- Lady Cathleen Crichton-Stuart (b. 14 September 1986)
- John Bryson Crichton-Stuart, 8th Marquess of Bute (b. 21 December 1989)
He married secondly on 13 February 1999 the fashion designer Serena Solitaire Wendell,[10] former wife of Robert De Lisser, sister of Francesca Wendell (d. bef. 2005) and daughter of Jac Wendell (ca. 1924 - Fuengirola, 15 November 2005), Major in the Grenadier Guards, and wife (div.) Anthea Peronelle Maxwell-Hyslop (b. 1931), married secondly in 1969 to Peter Rees, Baron Rees, and maternal granddaughter of Hugh John Maxwell-Hyslop, Major in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and wife.[10] They had one child:
- Lady Lola Affrica Crichton-Stuart (b. 23 June 1999)
Racing record[]
Complete International Formula 3000 results[]
(key)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | Onyx Racing | SIL Ret |
THR 7 |
EST Ret |
NÜR C |
VAL 6 |
PAU | 16th | 1 | ||||||
Lola Motorsport | SPA Ret |
DIJ 10 |
PER | ÖST | ZAN | DON | |||||||||
1988 | JER | VAL | PAU | SIL | MNZ | PER | BRH | BIR | BUG | ZOL Ret |
DIJ 13 |
NC | 0 |
Complete Formula One results[]
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | John Player Special Team Lotus | Lotus 98T | Renault V6 t | BRA 9 |
ESP Ret |
SMR Ret |
MON DNQ |
BEL Ret |
CAN Ret |
DET 7 |
FRA Ret |
GBR 7 |
GER Ret |
HUN 5 |
AUT Ret |
ITA Ret |
POR 9 |
MEX Ret |
AUS 6 |
13th | 3 |
Source:[11]
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Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results[]
Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Team | Co-Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | C1 | 62 | M | Sauber C9 Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8 |
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37 | DNF | DNF |
1988 | C1 | 2 | D | Jaguar XJR-9LM Jaguar 7.0L V12 |
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394 | 1st | 1st |
1989 | C1 | 37 | B | Toyota 89C-V Toyota R32V 3.2L Turbo V8 |
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58 | DNF | DNF |
1990 | C1 | 37 | B | Toyota 90C-V Toyota R32V 3.2L Turbo V8 |
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64 | DNF | DNF |
1991 | C2 | 13 | G | Courage C26S Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 |
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45 | DNF | DNF |
Complete British Touring Car Championship results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class - 1 point awarded all races)
Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | DC | Pts | Class |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Kaliber Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | A | SIL | OUL | THR | DON 3‡ |
THR | SIL | SIL | BRH | SNE | BRH | BIR | DON | SIL | 43rd | 4 | 16th |
‡ Endurance driver.
References[]
- ^ Ex-Formula 1 driver Marquess of Bute dies aged 62
- ^ Georgina Adam (26 April 2007). "Race to save Dumfries House". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Drivers:Johnny Dumfries". Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ "Painter-cum-racer". Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ "Johnny Dumfries profile". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ "Johnny Dumfries obituary". The Guardian. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "COVID-19: Marquess of Bute charged for alleged virus rule breach to visit namesake island". Sky News.
- ^ correspondent, Libby Brooks Scotland (23 December 2020). "Marquess of Bute charged with breaking Covid travel laws". The Guardian.
- ^ "Historic mansion sold to nation". BBC News. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Fox, Chloe (15 January 2019). "Bonnie in Clyde: Meet the Marchioness of Bute". Tatler. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 124. ISBN 0851127029.
External links[]
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Bute
- 1958 births
- 2021 deaths
- Marquesses of Bute
- Scottish racing drivers
- Scottish Formula One drivers
- Team Lotus Formula One drivers
- British Formula Three Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
- People from Rothesay, Bute
- People educated at Ampleforth College
- International Formula 3000 drivers
- British Touring Car Championship drivers
- British Roman Catholics
- 20th-century Roman Catholics
- 21st-century Roman Catholics
- Scottish Roman Catholics
- World Sportscar Championship drivers
- British people of American descent
- British people of Dutch descent
- Livingston family
- Schuyler family
- Deaths from cancer in Scotland