Lady Mairi Vane-Tempest-Stewart

Lady Mary Elizabeth "Mairi" Bury (née Vane-Tempest-Stewart; 25 March 1921 – 16 November 2009), known between 1942 and 1958 as Viscountess Bury, was a Northern Irish politician, gardener, aviator, and philatelist.

Early life and family Lady Mairi Bury was born Lady Mary Elizabeth Vane-Tempest-Stewart at Mount Stewart, County Down on 25 March 1921. She was the youngest of four daughters and one son of Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry and Edith Helen Vane-Tempest Stewart. Bury was much younger than her siblings; her eldest sister was 21 at the time of Bury's birth. She was privately educated at her home of Mount Stewart. Her father was the first minister for education and leader of the Stormont senate from May 1921. He had an interest in aviation, donating fifty acres for the establishment of an aerodrome and flying school at Newtownards in 1933, hoping it would become Northern Ireland's main public airport. The Stewarts used the aerodrome to travel between Mount Stewart and London. One of the first flights to land there was in 1934 when Bury brought monkeys for a private zoo at Mount Stewart. She learned how to drive there, and at aged 12 she piloted a plane solo in February 1934. The story of her flight was covered in newspapers in the United States and the United Kingdom, with her instructor reportedly described her as "as cool as ice". Elizabeth Mairi and Rose Deirdre Margaret. (Derek, Viscount Bury, predeceased his father and thus never became Earl of Albemarle.)

Mount Stewart Bury lived most of her life at Mount Stewart, both before and after her divorce. Her father had a strained relationship with Bury's brother, his only son, which led to Bury and her mother inheriting the Mount Stewart estate after the 7th Marquess of Londonderry's death in 1949. Bury was a keen gardener, maintaining the gardens created by her mother. The gardens were given to the National Trust in 1957 to ensure their survival. Bury stayed on the estate, living in an apartment after she gave the house and most of the contents in 1976 to the trust. She generally avoided contact with the thousands of visitors who came to the estate. Bury served as a Justice of the Peace in County Down, but was a stanch opponent of the Good Friday Agreement. She broke with family tradition and left the Ulster Unionist Party to join the Democratic Unionist Party, as she felt it was the only way that the interests of Northern Ireland could be guaranteed.

Bury was the life president of Ards Football Club and served as commodore of Newtownards Sailing Club. She was also a racehorse owner, owning the first thoroughbred stud in Northern Ireland. With her horse Fighting Charlie, she won the Gold Cup at Ascot twice, and with Northern Gleam the Irish Thousand Guineas once. At the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society's show at Balmoral, Belfast, Bury regularly exhibited yearlings and colts.