James Gray Stuart, 1st Viscount Stuart of Findhorn, (9 February 1897 – 20 February 1971) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Unionist politician. He was joint-

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's war-time coalition government and later served as Secretary of State for Scotland under Churchill and then

Sir Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

from 1951 to 1957. In 1959 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Stuart of Findhorn.

Background

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, Stuart was the third and youngest son of Morton Stuart, 17th Earl of Moray, and Edith Douglas Palmer, daughter of

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

George Palmer.

Military service

Stuart was commissioned from the Officers Training Corps into the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

(

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

) as a 2nd Lieutenant (his probation completed in Jan 1915) and served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, reaching the rank of Captain. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

and Bar in 1917. He was appointed Equerry to HRH Prince Albert in June 1920, and was appointed a Member (4th Class) of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

in the

1922 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1922 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 30 December 1921. The recipients of honours are displayed here ...

, with the award dated 3 Dec 1921.

Political career

Stuart sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Moray and Nairn from 1923 to 1959. He served as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of th ...

from 1935 to 1941 under successively Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and

and was sworn of the Privy Council in the

1939 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1939 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the o ...

. In 1941 Churchill promoted him to joint

(Government Chief Whip), which he remained until 1945. He continued as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Chief Whip until 1948. In 1950 he became Chairman of the Scottish Unionist Party, a post he held until 1962. When the Conservatives returned to power under Churchill in 1951, Stuart was made Secretary of State for Scotland, with a seat in the cabinet. He continued in this post until 1957, the last two years under the premiership of

. He was appointed a Companion of Honour in 1957. On 20 November 1959 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Stuart of Findhorn, of

Findhorn Findhorn ( gd, Inbhir Èir or ''Inbhir Èireann'') is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is located on the eastern shore of Findhorn Bay and immediately south of the Moray Firth. Findhorn is 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Kinloss, and about 5 ...

in the County of Moray.

Family

Lord Stuart of Findhorn married Lady Rachel Cavendish, daughter of Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (and sister of Dorothy Cavendish, wife of Harold Macmillan), in 1923. He had earlier been noted as a suitor of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon while serving as an equerry to her eventual husband Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

). Lord and Lady Stuart had two sons and one daughter. * David, 2nd Viscount Stuart of Findhorn (1924-1999) * John, a Royal Navy lieutenant (1925-1990) * Jean (Mrs Michael Ritchie) born 7 January 1932. Lord Stuart died in February 1971, aged 74, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest son,

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. Lady Stuart of Findhorn died in October 1977.

Arms

References

Sources

* Torrance, David, ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (Birlinn 2006) * Stuart, James; Viscount Stuart of Findhorn. ''Within the Fringe: An Autobiography''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, James Gray 1897 births 1971 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British Militia officers British Secretaries of State Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Royal Victorian Order Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Politics of Moray Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Scots officers UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs who were granted peerages Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs Younger sons of earls Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940 Viscounts created by Elizabeth II Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957