Brer Ruthven, Viscount Ruthven of Canberra

Patrick Leo Brer Ruthven, Viscount Ruthven of Canberra and Dirleton (born 1964) is the son of the 2nd Earl of Gowrie and 3rd Baron Ruthven of Gowrie, and heir apparent to both the earldom and the barony (quite distinct titles). He has worked in finance, IT, marketing and journalism.

Life

Ruthven attended Westminster School.

Early career

He wrote a number of articles for the NME and formed a rock band, the Pleasure Splinters, with Nick LeQuesne and Alan White. In 1982 he started work for Mike Lesser as Company Secretary of Pancan, a robotic theatre lighting system invented by Peter Wynne-Wilson. Moving to New York in 1985 Brer worked for Elizabeth Nickson at New Republic Clothiers. A month before the Black Monday (1987), Brer started work for Charlotte Black at London & Frankfurt Portfolio Management, moving with Charlotte and her client base to Brewin Dolphin the following year. Under Nigel Triptree, Brer moved from administration to investment management, running a variety of pension funds, private portfolios and a unit trust.

Marriage

He married an artist, Julie Goldsmith, mother of Tom Conning (aka Verb T), in 1990. He had one son, Heathcote Patrick Cornelius Hore Ruthven the same year. The family moved to Portobello Road in 1992.

In 1994 Ruthven started a direct marketing company, MusicLink, with Ali Irvani, and the following year his own IT consultancy, gBase Ltd, with Max Thomas and David Rage. He worked on two award winning CD-ROMs for the Trocadero (London) and BT Group. In 1999 Brer returned to Brewin Dolphin to design a new front office investment management system with Mondas plc, which he stayed on to administer.

Recent life

After separating from his wife, he moved to South Africa where he worked as a network manager and freelance journalist for Condé Nast Publications. He moved back to London in 2007.