Cardiff Castle welcomes a visit by one of the world’s leading experts on the Bute family and their priceless collections. Andrew McLean, Curator of Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute, the ancestral home of the Butes, makes the journey south of the border to Cardiff on Thursday 21 October.
Close links between Cardiff Castle and the Bute family continue to this day as part of the Bute Houses Partnership, although it has been over 60 years since the 5th Marquess of Bute gave Cardiff Castle and the surrounding parklands to the people of Cardiff. Important research work continues both at Cardiff Castle and at Mount Stuart House, trawling the archives, delving deeper into centuries of family history for nuggets of material that broadens the knowledge of this remarkable family. With four libraries of over 25,000 books and archives dating back to 1158 at Mount Stuart alone, it is a life’s work for Andrew McLean. He joined Mount Stuart in 1997 initially for two years, but after 13 years in post, he admits he is still just scratching the surface.
Curator of Cardiff Castle, Matthew Williams, said: “During his visit, I am delighted Andrew will also give a public lecture on the collections of the 4th Marquess of Bute (1881 -1947), with the focus on Welsh china, Irish glass and Scottish silver. Everyone is welcome to attend and in this way, we can all benefit from his expertise.”
This is a reciprocal arrangement that works well, as Matthew Williams has just returned from the EatBute Festival on the Isle of Bute where he gave a lecture on Lord Bute’s vineyards in south Wales.
The public lecture by Andrew McLean takes place at Cardiff Castle on Thursday 21 October at 6pm. Tickets are £7 – please telephone 029 2087 8100 or call in at the Castle Ticket Office. The advice is to book in advance as the lecture series invariably sell out.
