John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute - Definition and Overview

The Earl of Bute

Term:	26 May 1762–16 April 1763
Predecessor:	The Duke of Newcastle
Successor:	George Grenville
Date of Birth:	25 May 1713
Place of Birth:	Parliament Square, London
Date of Death:	10 March 1792
Place of Death:	Grosvenor Square, London
Political Party:	Tory

John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (May 25, 1713 - March 10, 1792), was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1762-1763) under George III. He had previously served as tutor to George, who was then the Prince of Wales. Bute owed his preferment to his friendship with the prince's widowed mother, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the Dowager Princess of Wales. It was rumoured that the couple were having an affair, but this was almost certainly untrue, Bute being a deeply religious man and happily married.

Because of the influence he had over his pupil, Bute expected to rise quickly to political power following George's accession to the throne in 1760, but his plans were premature. He was indeed appointed the de facto Prime Minister, and was successful in ending the Whig dominance and the Seven Years' War, but King George began to see through him, and turned against him after being criticised for an official speech which the press recognised as Bute's own work. The journalist John Wilkes published a newspaper called The North Briton, in which both Bute and the Dowager Princess of Wales were savagely satirised. Bute resigned as prime minister shortly afterwards. He remained friendly with the Dowager Princess of Wales, but her attempts to reconcile him with George III proved futile.

References

• Earl of Bute (http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page169.asp)
• The Age of George III: The ministry of John Stuart, third Earl of Bute (http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/ministry/butemin.htm)