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

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

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

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,  makin her maiden speech in Apryle 1976.  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, 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, a member o the Lords Refreshment Committee, an a member o the panel o Deputy Chairmen o Committees.
Lady Mar is an aa secretary o the Aw Pairty Parliamentary Group on Pesticides an Organophoshates.

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- 
 Honorary Associate o the British Veterinary Association 2007- 

Family

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
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

 Burke's Peerage
 Debrett's Peerage
 Extracts of Matriculations of Arms
Lundy, Darryl (Juin 19, 2005). ThePeerage.com - Person Page 8460. Retrieved Juin 23, 2005.
dodonline.co.uk 
Lady Mar's record in the Hoose o Lords
Forward-ME  o which Lady Mar is chairman
Parliamentary contributions bi Lady Mar

Category:1940 births
Category:Livin fowk
Category:Fowk wi chronic fatigue syndrome
Category:Dochters o Breetish earls
Category:Yerls or mormaers o Mar
Category:Hereditary Peers electit unner the Hoose o Lords Act
Category:Jacobite peers
Category:Hereditary suo jure peeresses