Cardiff Castle of Crossed Destinies

The Third Marquess of Bute

The third Marquess of Bute's father died six months after he was born. The child had a difficult and unhappy childhood. On being sent away to Harrow he developed an interest in Catholicism that he nurtured through his student days at Oxford. He was one of last batch of peers to enter Oxford University as a 'nobleman'. In 1865 he made his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was able to indulge his curiosity in Islam and the Jewish religion. He became a Catholic in 1866, gaining an audience and blessing from Pope Pius IV in 1869. This choice of religion further alienated him from many of the people in Cardiff: he was a Conservative and a Catholic, they were largely Liberal and Nonconformist; although interestingly both were estranged from the established church, although no longer barred from holding civil positions. Bute was the inspiration for Disraeli's novel Lothair. He was considered to have a great mind and great things were expected of him.

Bute continued to develop Cardiff. In 1868 work was begun on Roath Dock and in 1895 Queen Alexandria Dock, finished in 1907. But it was too late, Barry Dock had been built and was more efficient and could handle more coal.

Possibly the most visible legacies of Bute in Cardiff are Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, considerably re-designed by William Burgess starting in 1868. Burgess was the son of one of Bute's dock engineers. Burgess shared Bute's fantasy of of recreating a medieval world.

Despite Bute's efforts he was unable to prevent Batchelor from building Penarth Dock or Davies from building Barry Docks, although, it's possible that he managed to engineer the former's bankruptcy. In an effort to remedy the loss of his monopoly Bute created the Cardiff Railway Company. His intention was to short circuit the Taff Vale Railway Company line by building his own railway to Pontypridd via Taff's Well from Heath Halt. Once again he was outmanouvered when the Taff Vale bought land between their sidings and the Bute's new railway company. Whilst this was only ever a temporary solution it was sufficient to defeat the Marquess.

The third Marquess of Bute was certainly interested in the cultural life of Cardiff and Wales. Bute created the Western Mail as a Conservative mouthpiece to counter the Cardiff Times that supported the Liberal Party. He supported the Eisteddfod, as his father had done (although at this time this was largely an English language affair). He was also the President of Cardiff University and funded a chair in engineering construction. However his loyalty was to Scotland. He was a supporter of Scottish independence and the majority of his collections are housed in Scotland.