Talk:John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute

While comprehensive, this seems unduly biased against Bute. Calling John Wilkes a "journalist" is a bit of an overstatement, as the North Briton was little more than an organ for anti-Scottish sentiment. One issue actually landed him in jail for slander.

Was Bute even in the Lords during his Premiership? I always thought he was a Scottish peer and at this stage was not a representative. Timrollpickering 00:43, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

(Copied from Talk:Leader of the House of Lords)

Was Bute even in the Lords during my premiership? I recalling that he wasn't, being a Scottish peer (though had been a representative peer in an earlier parliament). Timrollpickering 12:11, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

He held the title of Baron Mount Stuart in the Peerage of Great Britain from 1761, I believe. john k 18:05, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

According to his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography it was his wife who had that title, but Bute was elected a representative peer in 1761 (and had previously been one from 1737 until 1741). This was, however, a month after he was appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Timrollpickering 20:48, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The statement that George III began to see through Bute after Bute became premier seems unfair as the article gives no indication what there was to see through. Dudley Miles 21 January 2007

Relation to present Marquis of Bute

Should we cross reference to Marquis of Bute and explain difference?

Resigned 8 April 1763

It is not disputed that Bute's successor, Grenville, took office as PM on 16 April 1763.

But the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica gives Bute's date of resignation as 8 April 1763. And a calculation from the dates and figures provided by 10 Downing Street (Total time as PM: 317 days) also indicates he resigned office 8 April. And Marjie Bloy agrees on 8 April 1763.

I'm about to edit the dates in office. If anyone reverts, please provide credible references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.232.72.45 (talk) 02:24, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Further confirmation of 8 April 1763 is provided by a contemporay account in The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, Vol. 3, "Letter 150 To George Montagu, Esq." (Friday, 8 April 1763), pp.208-9:

Lord Bute resigned this morning. His intention was not even suspected till Wednesday, nor at all known a very few days before.

Wednesday would have been the 6th, and that accounts for the few sources that end Bute's term that day. "This morning" refers to the 8th.

10 Downing Street explains "The Missing Days" between Bute's resignation on the 8th and Grenville's succession on the 16th.

There can often be breaks in the holding of the office of the Prime Minister, usually if the handover of power follows an election defeat or the death, resignation or retirement of the current PM.

All in all, at this point, I'm fairly convinced that 8 April 1763 was Bute's last day as PM. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.232.72.45 (talk) 18:55, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

caricatures

Could include some of the caricatures, especially the one which shows him as a giant boot (doesn't seem to currently be on Wikimedia Commons, unfortunately)... AnonMoos (talk) 14:22, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Kew

This article might say something about Bute's activity encouraging and laying out the garden at Kew for Augusta, which ultimately became the Royal Botanic Garden Kew? It's generally considered an important achivement in the history of botany and gardens.