Bute, Earl of (1713-1792), served as prime minister of Great Britain (now also called the United Kingdom) from May 1762 to April 1763. Bute’s appointment resulted from his friendship with King George III and with the king’s mother. Bute was an unpopular prime minister because he was Scottish and was a royal favorite. He helped negotiate the peace terms that ended the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). Bute was the first Scottish-born prime minister. He was also the first member of the Tory Party (forerunner of the modern Conservative Party) to hold the office.
Bute was born John Stuart on May 25, 1713, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the second oldest of eight children born to James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute. Young John succeeded his father as Earl of Bute in 1723. He was educated at Eton and Leiden University in the Netherlands. Bute married Mary Wortley Montagu in 1736. The couple had five sons and six daughters. Bute served in Parliament as a Scottish representative peer in the House of Lords from 1737 to 1741 and again from 1761 until 1780. He died in London on March 10, 1792.
