James Steuart of Coltness

James Steuart of Coltness
James Steuart of Coltness
	Portrait of Steuart by David Scougall (c. 1658)
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
	In office; 1658–1659
Preceded by	Sir Andrew Ramsay, Lord Abbotshall
Succeeded by	Robert Murray
Commissioner for Edinburgh
	In office; 1649–1650
Preceded by	Sir John Smyth
Succeeded by	Samuel Desborrow
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
	In office; 1648–1649
Preceded by	Sir Archibald Tod
Succeeded by	Sir Archibald Tod
Personal details
Born	1608
Died	31 March 1681
Nationality	Scottish
Spouses	; Anne Hope; (m. 1630; died 1646) ; Marion McCulloch Elliott; (m. 1648)
Children	Sir James Steuart; Sir Robert Steuart, Bt.
Parent(s)	James Steuart; Marion Carmichael
Occupation	Merchant, banker, landowner, politician

Sir James Steuart of Coltness (1608 – 31 March 1681) was a Scottish merchant, banker, landowner, politician and Covenanter.^[1]

Early life

Steuart was the second son of Marion Carmichael and James Steuart (1575–1607), of Allanton, Lanarkshire, and was born posthumously.^[2]^[3] Marion was sister of Sir James Carmichael, Justice General of Scotland.^[4]

Career

He was a merchant and banker in Edinburgh, acquired a large fortune, then acquired the estates of Kirkfield (from Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan) and Coldness (from Sir John Hamilton of Edston), both in Lanarkshire, in 1653.^[2]

He became a burgess of Edinburgh and guild member in 1631, apparently through his marriage to Thomas Hope's niece.^[4]

Public office

Steuart served as Provost of Edinburgh from 1648 to 1652, Commissioner for Edinburgh to the Parliament of Scotland from 1649 to 1650, and Lord Provost again in 1659. For a period of time, he was the Collector of Excise and Accountant-General for the Scottish Army.^[5]

His period of office as Provost included the decision to fortify the harbour of Leith and to create a new road between Edinburgh and Leith (later called Leith Walk.^[4]

Scottish Restoration

At the Restoration (1660) he was dismissed from public roles due to his being a Covenanter. After confinement in Edinburgh Castle, Steuart was sent to Dundee as a prisoner. He was granted a pardon in 1670.^[6]

Personal life

In 1630, he married Anne Hope (d. 1646), daughter of Henry Hope and niece of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall.^[7] Together, they had:^[8]

Sir Thomas Steuart, 1st Baronet of Coltness (1631–1698)^[9]^[10]
Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees (1635–1713)^[10]
William Steuart (1640–1700)^[3]
Sir Robert Steuart, 1st Baronet of Allanbank (1643–1707)
Marion Steuart (1645–1706), who married John Maxwell (1648–1732)^[3]

In 1648, two years after Anne's death, Steuart married Marion McCulloch Elliott (d. 1690), widow of Sir John Elliott, and only daughter and heiress of David McCulloch, of Goodtrees.^[10]

Sir James Steuart died on 31 March 1681.^[10]

References

Notes

^ "Sir James Steuart of Coltness (1608–1681), Lord Provost of Edinburgh (1648–1650 & 1658–1660) | Art UK | Discover Artworks Sir James Steuart of Coltness (1608–1681), Lord Provost of Edinburgh (1648–1650 & 1658–1660)". artuk.org. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Sir James Steuart of Coltness". collections.ed.ac.uk. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "James Steuart [Stewart] b. 1608 d. 1681: MacFarlane Clan & Families Genealogy". clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Taylor, W. L. (December 1957). "A Short Life of Sir James Steuart: Political Economist". The South African Journal of Economics. 25 (4): 290–302. doi:10.1111/j.1813-6982.1957.tb02850.x.
^ Anderson, William (1863). The Scottish Nation: Or The Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland, Volume 3. p. 509.
^ Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995). Hereinafter cited as Dictionary of National Biography.
^ "Person Page - Sir James Steuart of Coltness". thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
^ "University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections | Special Collections | Coltness Papers". archives.collections.ed.ac.uk. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Calderwood, Margaret Steuart (1884). Letters and Journals of Mrs. Calderwood of Polton: From England, Holland and the Low Countries in 1756. D. Douglas. p. 379. Retrieved 28 January 2017. James Steuart of Coltness (1608–1681).

Sources

Joseph Foster, Members of Parliament, Scotland (London and Aylesbury, 1882), p. 326

[1] "Sir James Steuart of Coltness (1608–1681), Lord Provost of Edinburgh (1648–1650 & 1658–1660) | Art UK | Discover Artworks Sir James Steuart of Coltness (1608–1681), Lord Provost of Edinburgh (1648–1650 & 1658–1660)". artuk.org. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

[EdinburghUni-2] "Sir James Steuart of Coltness". collections.ed.ac.uk. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

[MacFarlane-3] "James Steuart [Stewart] b. 1608 d. 1681: MacFarlane Clan & Families Genealogy". clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

[core.ac.uk-4] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[Taylor-5] Taylor, W. L. (December 1957). "A Short Life of Sir James Steuart: Political Economist". The South African Journal of Economics. 25 (4): 290–302. doi:10.1111/j.1813-6982.1957.tb02850.x.

[6] Anderson, William (1863). The Scottish Nation: Or The Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland, Volume 3. p. 509.

[7] Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995). Hereinafter cited as Dictionary of National Biography.

[Peerage-8] "Person Page - Sir James Steuart of Coltness". thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

[9] "University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections | Special Collections | Coltness Papers". archives.collections.ed.ac.uk. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

[Calderwood-10] Calderwood, Margaret Steuart (1884). Letters and Journals of Mrs. Calderwood of Polton: From England, Holland and the Low Countries in 1756. D. Douglas. p. 379. Retrieved 28 January 2017. James Steuart of Coltness (1608–1681).

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