Grey Gowrie

The Earl of Gowrie
Portrait by Nick Sinclair, 1992
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
11 September 1984 – 2 September 1985
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byThe Lord Cockfield
Succeeded byNorman Tebbit
Minister of State for the Arts
In office
11 June 1983 – 2 September 1985
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byPaul Channon
Succeeded byRichard Luce
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
In office
15 September 1981 – 10 June 1983
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byMichael Alison
Succeeded byThe Earl of Mansfield
Minister of State for Employment
In office
7 May 1979 – 15 September 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded by Harold Walker
Succeeded byMichael Alison
Lord-in-waiting
Government Whip
In office
7 April 1972 – 4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded bynew appointment
Succeeded byThe Lord Jacques
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
27 November 1960 – 11 November 1999
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 1st Earl of Gowrie
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Personal details
Born
Alexander Patrick Greysteil Hore-Ruthven

(1939-11-26)26 November 1939
Dublin, Ireland
Died24 September 2021(2021-09-24) (aged 81)
Llanfechain, Wales
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouses
Alexandra Bingley
(m. 1962; div. 1973)
Adelheid Gräfin von der Schulenburg
(m. 1974)
Children1
Parents
Alma mater

Alexander Patrick Greysteil Hore-Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie,[1] PC, FRSL (26 November 1939 – 24 September 2021), usually known as Grey Gowrie or Lord Gowrie, was an Irish-born British hereditary peer, politician, and businessman. Lord Gowrie was also the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Ruthven in Scotland. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, and held posts in academia for a period, in the US and London, including time working with poet Robert Lowell and at Harvard University.

Gowrie was a Conservative Party politician for some years, including a period in the British Cabinet. He held ministerial posts under Margaret Thatcher, in the areas of employment and Northern Ireland, and was Minister of State for the Arts, as well as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibility for Civil Service reform. Offered a promotion to full Secretary of State, with responsibility for education across the UK, he turned it down. Previously an arts dealer, he moved to Sotheby's for a reputed salary of around £150,000, chairing parts of the art auction business. He later chaired the Arts Council of England (1994–1998).

He published several volumes of poetry, with a collected edition released in 2014, and a volume on the artist Derek Hill; he was also a contributing author for a book on British painting. He underwent a heart transplant at Harefield Hospital in his early sixties. He died at his home in Llanfechain, Powys, Wales, in September 2021.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference GGowrie_obit_DT_210924 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).