Sir Michael Bruce 8th Bart. of Stenhouse

Sir Michael Bruce 8th baronet of Stenhouse, son of Sir William Bruce 7th bart. (d. 1827) and Ann Colquhoun Cunningham-Fairlie. Bruce was a claimant on two claims - Tobago 9 and Tobago 73 - and was initially awarded the compensation for them, but it is not clear in what capacity he claimed or what determination the Privy Council made after John Gordon appealed the award: see notes on those claims.

1. Born 03/03/1798; married Isabella Moir (who died 19/11/1867) in 1822. Confirmation 09/07/1863 of commissariot of Aberdeen 02/06/1863 of Dame Isabella Moir or Bruce as executrix nominate of Sir Michael Bruce of Stenhouse bart., who died 14/12/1862. Succeeded by his nephew William Cunningham Bruce.  

2. Sir Michael Bruce's brother-in-law (by virtue of marriage to Mary Agnes Bruce in 1828) was George Charles Moir, formerly a merchant in Bahia Brazil and the owner of Denmore Park; Sir Michael Bruce's wife Isabella Moir was the daughter of Alexander Moir, the half-brother of George Charles Moir.

3. Sir Michael Bruce of Stenhouse stood unsuccessfully as a Whig for Stirlingshire, Scotland in the 1841 election. At the hustings he 'made a long, rambling, incoherent speech in defence of the present [Liberal] Government, amidst the cheers of his friends and the hisses of his opponents'. NB: this is not the same Michael Bruce as was MP for Ilchester 1830-1831.

4. Died at Scotstown, Aberdeen in 1862.

T71/891 Tobago claim nos. 9 and 73.

1. Burke's Peerage 107th edition (2003) Vol. 1 p. 548; National Probate Calendar 1863.

2. http://www.denmorepark.org/history.php [accessed 28/03/2011]; http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/alexander-l-moir/moir-genealogy-and-collateral-lines-with-historical-notes-rio/page-14-moir-genealogy-and-collateral-lines-with-historical-notes-rio.shtml [accessed 28/03/2011].

3. Times 13/07/1841.

4. Times 16/12/1862.