Margaret had two younger siblings:
David of Mar, Master of Mar, and Lady Janet of Mar. In 1959, her father was officially recognised in the style of Mar,[1] and from that year his three children were also styled of Mar, the name Lane being abandoned.[citation needed]
Career
From 1959 to 1962, she was a civil servant with the
Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, before taking a position as a nursing auxiliary at the Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital from 1964 to 1969. She was a sales superintendent for British Telecom between 1969 and 1982, after which she took up farming.[2][3]
Mistress of Mar
When Margaret's father succeeded as 30th Earl of Mar in 1965 she became Lady Margaret of Mar, and her brother became The Master of Mar, Lord
Garioch. When Lord Garioch died in 1967, Margaret became The Mistress of Mar as the elder heir-portioner presumptive in general of her father.[4]
Countess of Mar
When in 1975 her father the 30th Earl died, Lady Margaret became the 31st holder of the Mar earldom, the premier earldom of Scotland, and entered the House of Lords,[5] making her maiden speech in April 1976.[6] After the passing of
House of Lords Act 1999, Lady Mar was elected to serve as one of the ninety-two hereditary peers retained in the House, receiving the highest number of votes of all peers.[7] She sat as a
crossbencher, meaning she was not aligned with any particular political party. She retired from the House on 1 May 2020.[8]
Lady Mar held a number of positions within the House of Lords:
Deputy Chair of Committees 1997–2007
Select Committee on European Communities Sub-Committee C (Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection) 1997–1999
Deputy Speaker 1999–2007, 2009–2012 and 2014–2020
Select Committee on European Union Sub-Committee D (Environment, Agriculture, Public Health and Consumer Protection / Environment and Agriculture) 2001–2005
Lady Mar was also a member of the
Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments,[9] a member of the Lords Refreshment Committee,[10] and a member of the panel of Deputy Chairmen of Committees.[11]
Lady Mar was also secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pesticides and Organophosphates.[12]
Lady Mar has also held a variety of non-political offices:
In the summer of 1989, while
dipping her sheep through a tank of
organophosphorous chemicals, Lady Mar was subjected to a splash of chemicals on her foot, and three weeks later developed headaches and muscular pains. She was eventually diagnosed with
chronic fatigue syndrome.[16][17][18]
Since then Lady Mar used her seat in the
House of Lords almost exclusively to press the government to provide suitable care and support for patients with similar long-term and poorly understood medical conditions, and to better regulate the use of organophosphates. This also led to her membership on the EU sub-committees listed above.
As a consequence of her illness, Lady Mar founded the organisation Forward-ME to co-ordinate the activities of a fairly broad spectrum of charities and voluntary organisations working with patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is also known as
myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
Family
Lady Mar has married three times: first to Edwin Noel Artiss, then to John Salton, and finally to John Jenkin. From the first marriage she had a daughter: Susan Helen of Mar, Mistress of Mar (born 1963), the heir presumptive to her mother's peerage. Lady Susan is married to Bruce Alexander Wyllie, and has two daughters, Isabel and Frances.[citation needed]
Arms
Coat of arms of Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar
Upon a Chapeau Gules faced Ermine two Wings each of ten Pen Feathers erected and addorsed both blazoned as the Shield
Escutcheon
Azure a Bend between six Cross Crosslets fitchée Or
Supporters
On either side a Griffin Argent armed beaked and winged Or
Motto
Pans Plus (Think more)
Badge
A Demi-Nobleman bearded proper in robe Gules furred Ermine with a Conical Hat Gules furred Ermine embellished with a Tall Feather Or quilled Azure all within an oval Chaplet of Scots Fir banded of Ribbands Azure and Or and ensigned with the Comital Coronet of Mar