James Stuart, 1st Earl Of Bute

Sir James Stuart, 3rd Baronet of Bute, was born in 1661 and died on 4 June 1710. He was a Scottish military officer, advocate, judge, and politician. Stuart was the son of Sir Dugald Stuart, 2nd Baronet, and Elizabeth Ruthven, daughter of Sir John Ruthven.

He inherited the title of 3rd Baronet Stuart of Bute in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1672. In 1681, he served as a colonel of the militia, during which he contributed to maintaining order in Argyll following the rebellion led by the Earl of Argyll. The following year, in 1684, he was appointed Sheriff of Tarbet. By 1685, he was practicing as an advocate.

Stuart was elected as Shire Commissioner for Bute in three separate periods: from 1685 to 1686, from 1689 to 1693, and again from 1702 to 1703. In 1686, he was appointed Sheriff of Argyll. He was a member of the Privy Council of Scotland and participated as a commissioner in negotiations for the union between Scotland and England in 1702.

On 14 April 1703, Stuart was elevated in nobility, being created 1st Viscount Kingarth, Lord Mountstuart, Cumra, and Inchmarnock, and also the 1st Earl of Bute. In 1707, he opposed the union of Scotland and England.

Regarding his personal life, Sir James Stuart married Agnes Mackenzie in July 1680. Agnes was the daughter of Sir George Mackenzie and Elizabeth Dickson. After her, he married Christian Dundas, the daughter of Sir William Dundas of Kincavel and Margaret Edmonston.

He died in Bath, Somerset, on 4 June 1710, and was buried in Rothesay, Scotland. His children included two sons by his first marriage: Margaret Stuart, born before 1681 and died on 27 April 1738, who married John Lindsay-Crawford, 1st Viscount Garnock; and James Stuart, who became the 2nd Earl of Bute, born before 1696 and died on 28 January 1723. By his second marriage, he had a son named John Stewart, born on September 6, 1700, who died in Rome on January 11, 1738.

References for Sir James Stuart's biography include Burke and Burke's "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage."