Born on the 25th of May 1713 in Edinburgh, John Stuart, the 3rd Earl of Bute was the first Scottish Prime Minister or Great Britain. He was educated at Eton and then attended the University of Leiden in the Netherlands where he received a degree in Law. He was a tall attractive man with what was known at the time as "a fine pair of legs". He had a passionate interest in botany, architecture and agriculture.  His family home was on the Isle of Bute and in 1736 he married Mary Wortley Montagu.

His marriage to Mary brought him wealth which was previously lacking in hi title and property. Not all Scottish peers were allowed entry into the House of Lords. They had to be elected by their peers and only 16 were sent to Parliament. Bute was elected to the House 3 times between 1736 and 1774 but did not sit from 1741 to 1761. Bute was a Tory and was a member of the Tory group known as the "hell Fire Club".  

His real rise top power started in 1747 when brought in as a fourth for a game of cards he met and developed a long term relationship with Frederick - Prince of Wales, which continued after Frederick's death with the Princess of Wales Augusta. In 1754, Bute acquired property on Kew Green in London on which he developed his botanical interests with Princess Augusta into what was to become Kew Gardens.

In 1755 Bute took up the position of "Finishing Tutor" to the future King George III. When George became King in 1760, Bute was elevated to Privy Councillor and in 1761 Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Bute was in position, as a Tory, to take advantage of the fall of the Whigs in December 1762 when the "Massacre of the Pelhamites" saw the fall of Pelham and his supports from power. Bute became Prime Minister. Bute actively encouraged the King to use his royal powers to set policy and influence Parliament.

By April 1763 Bute, who had vowed that he was accepting power in order to end the 7 years war, was under mounting pressure form Whigs and other groups to step down. He was not popular with the public and in Parliament his support eroded quickly as members quickly switched to what they considered to be a winning horse. There was also a general prejudice against him due to his Scottish origins.  He resigned and purchased Luton Hoo, an estate in Bedfordshire.

Although he continued to sit in Parliament until 1780 he did not rise to the upper circles of power again and was content to tend to his gardens and botany. In March of 1792, while collecting plants from a cliifface at his Hampshire home near Christchurch, he slipped and fell 30 feet. He did not die immediately but slowly faded and died later that month.