Catherine Maxwell Stuart | |
---|---|
Born | Catherine Margaret Mary Maxwell Stuart 16 November 1964 Peebles, Scottish Borders, Scotland, U.K. |
Education | Peebles High School |
Alma mater | London School of Economics |
Occupation(s) | landowner, hotelier, brewer, politician, writer |
Spouses | John Grey (m. 1995;died 1998)Mark Muller (m. 1999) |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Peter Maxwell Stuart Flora Carr-Saunders |
Relatives | Clan Stewart |
Catherine Margaret Mary Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair (born 16 November 1964) is a Scottish landowner, politician, hotelier, brewer, and writer. She is the first female Laird of Traquair and, at the time she succeeded her father in 1990, she was the only female laird in Scotland. She took over the management of the lairdship from her mother in 1999, which includes a bed and breakfast and ancient brewery. A lifelong socialist, Maxwell Stuart ran for public office four times as a Labour Party candidate, including in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election and the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.
Maxwell Stuart was born in 1964 to Captain Peter D'Arcy Joseph Maxwell Stuart, 20th Laird of Traquair and Flora Mary Carr-Saunders Maxwell Stuart, Lady of Traquair. [1] [2] [3] As a member of a recusant family, she was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. [1] [4] [5] Her father was an officer in the British Indian Army and a managing director at Vickers. Maxwell Stuart's maternal grandfather was Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders. She is a great-great-granddaughter of William Constable-Maxwell, 10th Lord Herries of Terregles.
A member of the Clan Stewart and a descendant of the Clan Maxwell, Maxwell Stuart is a relative of the House of Stuart and descends from the first laird in the female line through Henry Constable Maxwell Stuart. [1] [6] [7] [8] She is also a descendant of Mary, Queen of Scots. [9] [10] Maxwell Stuart grew up at Traquair House, her family's estate in the Scottish Borders. [11] She was educated at Traquair Primary School and Peebles High School in Peeblesshire. [12]
In 1999, Maxwell Stuart took over the management of the Traquair estate from her mother, who had taken over after the death of the twentieth laird in 1990. [13] Prior to her return to Scotland, she was working as a teacher in South America. [14] At the time she inherited, she was the only female Laird in Scotland and the first female laird of Traquair. [14] [11] As a Scottish Laird, she is entitled to the old style of address of The Much Honoured and the title "Lady of Traquair". [15] Traquair is the oldest continually inhabited stately home in Scotland. [16] [17] [18] The castle was given to James Stuart, 1st Laird of Traquair, who was an illegitimate son of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan and a cousin of James III of Scotland, in 1491. [17] [19] Maxwell Stuart operates a bed and breakfast and a brewery at the castle, and works as a tour guide at the estate. [17] [20] [21] [22] She also hosts weddings, formal events, and summer festivities at Traquair. [1] [23] She owns the house in partnership with a charitable trust. [1]
A socialist, in 1999 Maxwell Stuart ran as a Labour Party candidate in a local government election, representing Innerleithen and Walkerburn, for the Scottish Borders Council. [14] [12] She lost by ninety votes. [14] In 2000 she ran as a Labour candidate for Roxburgh and Berwickshire in the General Election. [14] [12] Her platform included the construction of a new train rail, tackling crime, raising minimum wage, and increasing jobs in the Scottish Borders. [14] She ran in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election and the 2007 Scottish Parliament election as a Labour candidate for Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale.
In 2016, Maxwell Stuart accepted the Four Star Gold Quality Assurance Award from VisitScotland on behalf of Traquair House. [17] That same year, she was featured in a BBC documentary titled Lady Lairds, which followed women owners of castles and country houses. [10]
She has written two books, All for Our Rightful King: Traquair's Jacobite Story, 1688–1842 and A Family Life Revealed: The Stuarts at Traquair 1491–1875. [24]
In April 2021, she was featured on the Duchess podcast, where she was interviewed by Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland. [11]
Maxwell Stuart is a practising Catholic. [11] The National Portrait Gallery holds a 1992 portrait of Stuart. [25]
In 1995 she married fashion designer John Grey in a Catholic ceremony at Traquair's chapel. [14] Her husband died in 1998 from cancer. [14] [11] In 1999 she married Mark Muller, a human rights attorney. [14] [12] She met Muller in the 1980s while studying at the London School of Economics, and the two had been friends prior to their marriage. [11] She has three children: Isabella, Louis, and Charlotte. [1] [4] [14]
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by courtesy" in the sense that persons referred to by these titles do not in law hold the substantive title. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the west, and the English ceremonial counties of Cumbria and Northumberland to the south. The largest settlement is Galashiels, and the administrative centre is Newtown St Boswells.
Innerleithen is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale.
Traquair House, approximately 7 miles southeast of Peebles, is claimed to be the oldest continually inhabited house in Scotland. Whilst not strictly a castle, it is built in the style of a fortified mansion. It pre-dates the Scottish Baronial style of architecture, and may have been one of the influences on this style. The estate contains the famous Traquair Brewery.
Peebles is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 was 9,000.
Peeblesshire, the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west.
Tweeddale is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local government district. Its boundaries correspond to the historic county of Peeblesshire.
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the son of George, Master of Angus, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden, and succeeded as Earl of Angus on the death of his grandfather, Archibald.
Clan Scott is a Scottish clan and is recognised as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Historically the clan was based in the Scottish Borders.
Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon, KT, styled Marquess of Huntly until 1752, was a Scottish nobleman, described by Kaimes as the "greatest subject in Britain", and was also known as the Cock o' the North, the traditional epithet attached to the chief of the Gordon clan.
John Stewart, 1st Earl of Traquair was a Scottish statesman who was created Baron Stewart of Traquair in 1628 and Earl of Traquair in 1633.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan (1442–1499) was a Scottish noble. He was the uncle of James III of Scotland who granted him the Earldom of Buchan. Buchan repaid his nephew by fighting for his cause against rebellious southern barons. Through his marriage to Margaret Ogilvy he acquired the title Lord Auchterhouse.
The Much Honoured is an honorific style applied to the holders of certain Scottish feudal baronies and Clan chiefs.
Traquair is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders; until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south of Innerleithen at grid reference NT330346.
Andrew Carruthers (1770–1852) was a Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland.
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The Kirna, known locally as Kirna House, is a Category A listed villa in Walkerburn, Peeblesshire, Scotland. It is one of four villas in Walkerburn designed by Frederick Thomas Pilkington between 1867 and 1869 for the Ballantyne family. It is listed as a fine example of a Pilkington mansion retaining original external features, a fine interior, and for its importance as a Ballantyne property.
John Stewart of Traquair was a Scottish landowner.