John Stuart, Viscount Mount Stuart was born on the 25th September 1767 at Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, the son of John Stuart, 1st Marquess of the County of Bute and Hon. Charlotte Jane Windsor. He was the grandson of Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute.
He was educated between 1775 and 1779 at Eton College. He matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge University, on the 27th May 1784. (M.A. in 1787).
He married Lady Elizabeth Penelope MacDowall-Crichton, daughter the 6th Earl of Dumfries and his wife Margaret (Crauford), on the 12th October 1792 at Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire.
He died on the 22nd January 1794 at the early age of 26, at Bassingbourn Hall, Stansted, from a fall from his horse, in Pishiobury Park, whilst returning from hunting. He died intestate and was buried on the 27th day of January, at St Margaret’s, Stanford Rivers.
His wife, Lady Mount Stuart survived him by three years and died in July 1797, aged 24.
He held the office of Member of Parliament (Tory) for Cardiff between 1790 and 1794. He was appointed Colonel of the Glamorganshire Militia in 1791 and was also Lord-Lieutenant of Glamorganshire between 1793 and his death.
They had two sons, who both added the surname "Crichton" before that of "Stuart" in 1805:
John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of the County of Bute born 10 August, 1793, died 18th March, 1848
Lord Patrick James Herbert Crichton-Stuart born the 25th August, 1794, died the 7th September, 1859.
To discover the reason why the Viscount Mount Stewart was buried in St Margaret’s, I have referred to the work of Harold Scott, in his history of Stanford Rivers, who carried out research with the archivist to the Marquess of Bute.
In 1794, Richard Beadon, Bishop of Gloucester, who also held the living of Stanford Rivers as Rector (1775 – 1794), gave permission for a vault to be built in the chancel of the church, at the expense of John, 4th Earl of Bute (1st Marquess 1796), and it was in this vault that Viscount Mount Stewart was buried in 1794. He was apparently buried alongside his one day old sister, Elizabeth. However it would appear that both bodies were later removed and buried in the Bute tomb at Roath, Glamorgan.
It would seem that Richard Beadon was on friendly terms with the Bute family and this would appear to be the only reason that he was buried initially at St Margaret’s.
Bassingbourn Hall which was demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the Stansted Airport development.