# Another fascinating obit - Sir Houstaon Shaw-Stewart, Bt



## bossi (25 Mar 2004)

Sir Houston Shaw-Stewart, 11th Bt, who has died aged 72, was awarded an MC as a 19-year-old subaltern serving with the Royal Ulster Rifles in Korea; his was the last MC to be presented in person by King George VI.

During a surprise night attack by Chinese troops at Chaegunghyon on January 3-4 1951, Shaw-Stewart‘s commanding officer ordered him disperse his platoon and to tell his men to make their own way back to base. The CO then fell at Shaw-Stewart‘s feet, killed instantly by a shot to the head.

Ignoring the enemy‘s fire - and the excruciating sound of Chinese tin bugles - Shaw-Stewart at once reversed the order and, as his citation attests, "stood up and coolly reorganised his platoon; he then fought his way forward, killing several of the enemy in hand to hand combat".

His "complete disregard for his own safety, and his extraordinary coolness under heavy fire, was such an inspiration to his men and to all who saw him that a very dangerous situation was avoided, and a large number of men who would otherwise have been cut off were enabled to fight their way out to safety".

Of an earlier stage in the fighting, the citation records that Shaw-Stewart had "made several journeys . . . under heavy fire . . . to ensure that no men or equipment had been left behind". One such piece of equipment, Shaw-Stewart would tell his friends, was an indispensable hip flask.

Houston Mark Shaw-Stewart was born on April 24 1931, the third son, and fifth child, of Guy Shaw-Stewart, eldest son of Sir Hugh Shaw-Stewart, 8th Bt. The baronetcy had been conferred by King Charles II on Archibald Stewart of Blackhall, MP for Renfrewshire, in 1667 - for services rendered to Charles I.

The castle and lands of the family seat of Ardgowan, Renfrewshire, had been granted in 1403 by Robert III, great-grandson of Robert the Bruce, to his natural son Sir John Stewart, Houston‘s ancestor. Since the 18th century, the ruins of the castle have stood alongside a splendid Adam-style mansion.

While, in the male line, Houston was a direct descendant of the Bruce, on the distaff side, through his great-great-grandmother Eliza Farquhar, he was descended from Princess Pocahontas. Houston‘s mother died a few days after giving birth to him, but the boy‘s optimistic nature and strength of character saw him through.

At St Peter‘s Court preparatory school, he formed several lifelong friendships; at Eton, though, he was "Pop tanned" for going to the cinema in Windsor (strictly off limits) wearing a false beard. 

In later life, he would often recall how the president of Pop berated him for letting down his Family, his House, his School and even his Country, before beating him "like a gong". 

After Eton, Shaw-Stewart joined the Coldstream Guards for National Service, but then moved to the Royal Ulster Rifles - in the hope getting some good foxhunting in Ireland. His plan, however, promptly fell through when the regiment was posted to the battlefront in Korea.

After demob and a brief spell at Cirencester Agricultural College, Shaw-Stewart finally got his hunting in Ireland, and also extended his burgeoning knowledge of racing by working as an assistant to Vincent O‘Brien, in those days still best known as a National Hunt trainer. 

Shaw-Stewart loved the Irish and they loved him. His popularity brought so much business to the Cashel Palace Hotel that the manager gave him free board and bar. 

The only people with whom he was not popular were nannies - since he was almost as likely to press a Havana cigar and a large glass of port on a six-year-old as he was on a Master of Foxhounds.

Returning to Scotland, Shaw-Stewart farmed, rode to hounds, shot and went racing, sometimes acting as a steward. He was Joint Master of the Lanark and Renfrewshire Foxhounds from 1974 to 1979, and ran two shoots: the Ardgowan (pheasant) and Greenock Moor (grouse). Grouse being generally scarce, guests would be advised to "bring a book".

Until 1969 he also led the fearsome Paisley Squadron of the Ayrshire Yeomanry (TA). On exercises on Salisbury Plain, he was once called upon to demonstrate a new flame-throwing vehicle.

He had to drive blind, and made things no easier for himself by forgetting to switch on his radio. Having blasted fire in all directions for what he considered a reasonable period, he emerged to find that he had almost incinerated the VIP enclosure.

He retired from the TA in 1969 in the rank of major, and was later appointed Honorary Colonel A (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Squadron, Queen‘s Own Yeomanry RAC, TA. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration.

Shaw-Stewart was a Deputy Lieutenant for Renfrewshire (1970-74) and for Strathclyde Region (1974-80). He was Vice Lord Lieutenant, Strathclyde Region, from 1980 to 1995, and a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the Queen‘s Body Guard for Scotland. He was patron or president of innumerable clubs and associations in Greenock.

Every July for more than three decades he stayed with the Queen Mother at Royal Lodge, Windsor, for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot. Once, when saying goodnight, Shaw-Stewart got in a muddle and curtsied. The Queen Mother laughed so much that she had to hold on to a chair.

After succeeding in the baronetcy on his brother‘s death in 1980, Sir Houston married, in 1982, Lucinda ("Cindy") Fletcher. Friends thought the match an inspired one, and together the couple transformed Ardgowan.

For many years, Shaw-Stewart made a daily pre-lunch visit to the Victoria Bar and Lounge (the "V B & L") at Gourock, where his friends included several Clyde pilots, a language teacher, a jazz musician and a portrait painter.

When banned from driving after failing a breathalyser test on Viking Night in Largs, he bought Victor, a pony, and visited the V B & L in a trap. Pony and trap stood in the pub yard, Victor sustained by the odd bucket of beer - and if Shaw-Stewart could not remember the way home, Victor always did.

In his final months, Shaw-Stewart was confined to a wheelchair but, nothing daunted, continued his daily attendance at the V B & L, raised to the level of the bar by an electronically elevated seat.

Sir Houston, who died on February 21, is survived by his wife and by their son, Ludovic, who was born in 1986 and succeeds in the baronetcy.


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