Author: Stewart, J.
Biography:
STEWART, J. (1794-1838: ancestry.com)
Prejudice, a Satirical Dialogue was published in Paris, anonymously. It does not appear to have been reviewed but it is attributed by the National Library of Scotland to “J. Stewart, of Murthly,” i.e. to one of the Stewarts or Steuarts of Murthly Castle in what is now Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The most likely candidate is John Archibald Drummond-Steuart, known to the contemporary press as Sir John Stewart of Murthly. He was the son of George Steuart (d 1827), 5th baronet of Grandtully, and his wife Catherine Drummond (1782-1833); he was baptised at Little Dunkeld, Perthshire, on 20 Nov. 1794. He may have been in Paris at the time of publication of his poem but a year later when his father died he succeeded to the title and the estate and immediately set out on an ambitious building program. Murthly Castle, originally a hunting lodge, had been much enlarged and improved over the centuries. Murthly House would be a large handsome modern building. It was never completed and was never fully occupied but it had a roof and was fit for use on 25 Jan. 1832 when the laird married Jane Stewart (1802-80), eldest daughter of the Earl of Moray. According to a family tree on Ancestry, the couple had one daughter, but no records have been found to confirm that. Stewart died in Paris on 20 May 1838 and his successors had no interest in the expensive project. In 1949 Murthly House was demolished; Murthly Castle in still in use, often for weddings. (ancestry.com 3 Dec. 2024; findmypast.com 3 Dec. 2024; Aberdeen Press 3 June 1829; “Murthly House,” Wikipedia 3 Nov. 2024; GM Sept. 1838, 342) HJ