Margaret of Mar, 30th Countess of Mar

Margaret Alison of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar and Lady Garioch (born 19 September 1940) is a crossbench member of the House of Lords, an elected hereditary peer and the holder of the original Earldom of Mar, the oldest peerage title in the United Kingdom. She is the only "suo jure" Countess in the House of Lords.

Early life

She was born Margaret Alison Lane, the daughter of James Clifton Lane later James of Mar, 30th Earl of Mar, the Heir Presumptive of Lionel Erskine-Young, 29th Earl of Mar, his first cousin once removed (both were descended from a sister of John Goodeve-Erskine, 27th Earl of Mar).

Margaret had two younger siblings: David, Master of Mar, Lord Garioch, and Lady Janet of Mar. In 1959, her father was officially recognized in the style "of Mar" and from that year his three children were also styled "of Mar", the name "Lane" being abandoned.

Mistress of Mar

When Margaret's father succeeded as 30th Earl of Mar in 1965 she became Lady Margaret of Mar, and her brother became The Master of Mar, Lord Garioch. When Lord Garioch died in 1967, Margaret became "The Mistress of Mar" as the elder heir-portioner presumptive in general of her father.

Countess of Mar

When in 1975 her father the 30th Earl died, Lady Margaret became the 31st holder of the Mar earldom, the Premier Earldom of Scotland, and entered the House of Lords. After the passing of House of Lords Act 1999, Lady Mar was elected to serve as one of the ninety-two hereditary peers retained in the House, where she sits as a cross-bencher, meaning she is not aligned with any particular political party.

As Countess of Mar she is also Titular 11th Duchess of Mar in the Jacobite Peerage (in which Peerage she is numbered as 32nd Countess of Mar, as the attainder of 1716-1824 is not recognised by the Jacobites).

Note: Owing to a nineteenth-century dispute, there is also another Earl of Mar, James Thorne Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar and 16th Earl of Kellie, a kinsman of Margaret's. Margaret, however, is the undisputed holder of the ancient earldom. The 1565 earldom, which was created retrospectively in the 1870s, is held by the Erskine side of this ancient Scottish family.

Family

Lady Mar has married three times: first to Edwin Noel Artiss, then to John Salton, and finally to John Jenkin. From the first marriage she had a daughter: Susan Helen of Mar, Mistress of Mar (born 1963), the heiress presumptive to her mother's peerage. Lady Susan is married to Bruce Alexander Wyllie, and has two daughters, Isabel and Frances.

Titles and styles

*1940-1959 : Margaret Lane
*1959-1967 : Margaret of Mar
*1967-1975: The Lady Margaret of Mar, Mistress of Mar
*1975—: The Right Hon The Countess of Mar and Lady Garioch

References

Burke's PeerageDebrett's PeerageExtracts of Matriculations of Arms
*Lundy, Darryl (June 19, 2005). [http://thepeerage.com/p8460.htm#i84598 ThePeerage.com - Person Page 8460] . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
* [http://www.dodonline.co.uk/engine.asp?lev1=4&lev2=38&menu=81&biog=y&id=27017&group=5&Page=Countess%20of%20Mar%20:%20Political%20Biography dodonline.co.uk]

ee also

*House of Lords
*House of Lords Act 1999
*Members of the House of Lords