Margaret o Mar, 31st Coontess o Mar

Margaret o Mar, 31st Coontess o Mar an 24t Lady Garioch, (born 19 September 1940) is a crossbench member o the Hoose o Lords, an electit hereditary peer, the holder o the oreeginal Earldom o Mar, the auldest peerage title in the Unitit Kinrick an a farmer an specialist cheesemaker in Worcestershire. She currently is the ae suo jure Coontess in the Hoose o Lords.

Early life

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She wis born Margaret Alison Lane, the eldest dochter o Millicent Mary Salton an James Clifton Lane later James o Mar, 30t Earl o Mar the Heir Presumptive o Lionel Erskine-Young, 29t Earl o Mar, his first cousin ance removed (baith wur descendit frae a sister o John Goodeve-Erskine, 27t Earl o Mar).

Margaret haed twa yunger siblings: David o Mar, Master o Mar, an Lady Janet o Mar. In 1959, her faither wis offeecially recognised in the style o Mar an frae that year his three childer wur an aa styled o Mar, the name Lane bein abandoned.

Mistress o Mar

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When Margaret's faither succeedit as 30t Earl o Mar in 1965 she became Lady Margaret o Mar, an her brither became The Master o Mar, Lord Garioch. When Lord Garioch dee'd in 1967, Margaret became The Mistress o Mar as the elder heir-portioner presumptive in general o her faither.

Coontess o Mar

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When in 1975 her faither the 30t Earl dee'd, Lady Margaret became the 31st holder o the Mar earldom, the Premier Earldom o Scotland, an entered the Hoose o Lords,[1] makin her maiden speech in Apryle 1976.[2] Efter the passing of House of Lords Act 1999, Lady Mar wis electit tae serve as ane o the ninetie-twa hereditary peers retained in the Hoose,[3] whaur she sits as a cross-bencher, meanin she is no aligned wi ony parteecular poleetical pairty.

As Coontess o Mar she is an aa Titular 11t Duchess o Mar in the Jacobite Peerage (in which Peerage she is numbered as 32nt Coontess o Mar, as the attainder o 1716-1824 is no recognised bi the Jacobites).

Note: Awin tae a nineteent-century dispute an mistake, thare is an aa anither Earl o Mar, James Erskine, 14t Earl o Mar an 16t Earl o Kellie, a kinsman o Margaret's. Margaret, housomeivver, is the undisputit haulder o the auncient earldom. The 1565 earldom, which wis creatit retrospectively in the 1870s, is held bi the Erskine side o this auncient Scots faimily.

Lady Mar haes held a nummer o poseetions athin the Hoose o Lords:

  • Deputy Chair o Committees 1997–2007
  • Select Committee on European Communities Sub-Committee C (Environment, Public Health an Consumer Protection) 1997–1999
  • Deputy Speaker 1999–2007
  • Select Committee on European Union Sub-Committee D (Environment, Agriculture, Public Health an Consumer Protection / Environment an Agriculture) 2001–2005

Lady Mar is currently a member o the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments[4], a member o the Lords Refreshment Committee,[5] an a member o the panel o Deputy Chairmen o Committees.[6] Lady Mar is an aa secretary o the Aw Pairty Parliamentary Group on Pesticides an Organophoshates.[7]

Lady Mar haes an aa held a variety o non-poleetical offices:

  • Member o the Immigration Appeal Tribunal 1985-2006
  • Chairman, Honest Food 2000-2005
  • Chairman, Environmental Medicine Foundation 1997-2003
  • Preses, Guild of Agricultural Journalists 2007-
  • Patron, Dispensing Doctors' Association 1985-1986
  • Patron, Worcestor Mobile Disabled Group 1991-2003
  • Patron, Gulf Veterans' Association
  • Preses, Elderly Accommodation Counsel, 1994-
  • Honorary Associate o the Ryal College o Veterinary Surgeons 2006- [8]
  • Honorary Associate o the British Veterinary Association 2007- [9]

Family

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Lady Mar haes mairit three times: first tae Edwin Noel Artiss, then tae John Salton, an finally tae John Jenkin. Frae the first marriage she haed a dochhter: Susan Helen o Mar, Mistress o Mar (born 1963), the heiress presumptive tae her mither's peerage.

Titles an styles

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  • 1940-1959: Margaret Alison Lane
  • 1959-1965: Margaret o Mar
  • 1965-1967: The Lady Margaret o Mar
  • 1967-1975: The Mistress o Mar
  • 1975—present: The Coontess of Mar an Lady Garioch

References

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  1. Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 28 October 1975, column 141. Archived 2009-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 7 April 1976, column 1684. Archived 2009-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 29 October 1999, column 510.
  4. "Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments". UK Parliament website. Archived frae the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 7 Julie 2009.
  5. "House of Lords Refreshment Committee". UK Parliament website. Archived frae the original on 21 November 2006. Retrieved 7 Julie 2009.
  6. Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 6 July 2009, column 450.
  7. "House of Commons - Register of All-Party Groups". UK Parliament website. Archived frae the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived frae the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived frae the original on 18 Mey 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Precedit bi
James o Mar
Earl o Mar Succeedit bi
Heir:Susan o Mar