Walter Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Ruthven of Gowrie

Walter James Hore-Ruthven, 9th Lord Ruthven of Freeland, 1st Baron Ruthven of Gowrie (14 June 1838 – 28 February 1921), previously known as Walter James Hore, was a British soldier and peer, a member of the House of Lords from 1919 until his death.

The son of William Hore and Dells Honoria Lowen, in 1853 his surname may have been changed to Hore-Ruthven

On 13 February 1864, on the death of his grandmother Mary Elizabeth Thornton Hore-Ruthven, 8th Lady Ruthven of Freeland (c. 1784–1864), Ruthven succeeded her as the 9th Lord Ruthven of Freeland in the peerage of Scotland, but was not recognized as such.

In February 1869, Ruthven petitioned the Court of Session for authority to charge his entailed estates in Perthshire with the sum of £27,000. In October 1870, Ruthven was of the Pavilion House, Hans Place, Knightsbridge, and a bankruptcy action was brought against him by Henry Russell of 2, Percy Street, Bedford Square. In December 1873, he applied to the Court of Session for authority to sell his entailed estates, for the payment of debts.

On 23 October 1878, as "Walter James Hore, Lord Ruthven, late Captain, Rifle Brigade", he was commissioned as a major into the 15th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps, a unit of the Volunteer Force.

In September 1881, Ruthven was "of Yeo Vale in the parish of Alwington, in the county of Devon", and sought a liquidation of his debts by arrangement. Notice was given of a first general meeting of his creditors at 11, New Inn, the Strand, London, on 7 October.

In December 1881, Ruthven was declared bankrupt, owing a total of £3,387.

Ruthven was a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire, Lanarkshire, and Perthshire, and also a Deputy Lieutenant of Perthshire. They had five children: 1915