- John Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair
John David James Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair (born
4 September 1961 ) is a British politician who since 2008 has been a member of theHouse of Lords . He is acrossbencher .Lord Stair was born in 1961, the first child of John Dalrymple, 13th Earl of Stair, (
9 October 1906 -1 March 1996 ) and of Davina Katherine Bowes-Lyon (b.2 May 1930 ). His father was fifty-five at the time of his birth.On his father's side, he is descended from
John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair , aSecretary of State for Scotland before the Union and active supporter of William III's claim to the throne. Stair is notorious for ordering theGlencoe Massacre in 1694.On his mother's side, he is the grandson of
David Bowes-Lyon (1902-1961), who served asLord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire in the 1950s. David's sister Elizabeth married Prince Albert, Duke of York (1895-1952) in 1923; on the shock abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, in 1936 he became King George VI. Lord Stair's mother Davina is thus a first cousin of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (b.1926), and he is second cousin of Prince Charles (b.1948),Anne, Princess Royal (b.1950), Prince Andrew (b.1960), and Prince Edward (b.1964). Through David Bowes-Lyon, he is descended fromWilliam Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809), a Prime Minister of the late-18th and early-19th centuries, andRichard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley (1760-1842), Viceroy of India 1798-1805, and brother ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), Britain's greatest general. He is also a second cousin of Conservative politician,Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne .On inheriting his peerage in 1996, Lord Stair entered the House of Lords and sat as a crossbencher- that is, an independent. In 1999, the House of Lords Act removed the rights of all herediatry peers to sit in the House; however, ninety-two peers were permitted to remain in the House, elected by other peers. He failed to be elected.
Following the death of
Davina Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth in 2008, Lord Stair was elected to the Lords, but as of 9 October 2008 had made no contributions in votes or speeches.
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