Earl Castle Stewart

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Earl Castle Stewart, in the County of Tyrone, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Andrew Stuart, 1st Viscount Castle Stuart. The Stewart family descends from Sir Walter Stewart (d. 1425), younger son of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, son of Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, younger son of King Robert II of Scotland. Sir Walter had several children born out of wedlock who were later legitimized. One son, Andrew Stuart, was created Lord Avandale (or Avondale) in 1459 and served as Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1460 to 1482. Another son, Walter Stewart, became feudal Baron of Morphie and was legitimized in 1479. His grandson Andrew Stewart was created Lord Avondale in circa 1499, a reveival of the title which had become extinct on his great-uncle's death in 1488. Lord Avondale was one of the many Scottish peers who were killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.

He was succeeded by his elder son, the second Lord. He exchanged his lordship with Sir James Hamilton for the lordship of Ochiltrie and by Act of Parliament in 1542 was ordained to be styled Lord Stuart of Ochiltrie. His great-grandson, the third Lord Stuart of Ochiltree, was First Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King James VI (later James I of England). In 1611 he settled in Ulster where he was granted 3,000 acres (12 km²) of land in County Tyrone. In 1615 he resigned the feudal barony of Ochiltree and the peerage to his first cousin, Sir James Stuart (the son of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Arran, younger son of the second Lord; see the Lord Ochiltree for further history of this title), with the consent of the Crown. In 1619 he was instead raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Castle Stuart, in the County of Tyrone. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He had already in 1628, one year before he succeeded his father in the barony, been created a Baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia.

His eldest son, the third Baron, fought as a Royalist in the Civil War. He had no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Baron. He died childless and was succeeded by his uncle, the fifth Baron. He never married and on his death in 1685 the titles became dormant. They remained dormant for the next 89 years but were successfully claimed in 1774 by Andrew Thomas Stewart, who became the ninth Baron. He was the son of Robert Stewart, the de jure eighth Baron, son of Andrew Stuart, the de jure seventh Baron, son of Captain Robert Stewart, the de jure sixth Baron Castle Stewart, son of Colonel the Hon. Robert Stewart (d. 1662), third son of the first Baron. Lord Castle Stewart was baptised Andrew Thomas Stewart-Moore (Moore was the maiden name of his paternal grandmother) but assumed by Royal license the surname of Stewart only in 1775. In 1793 he was created Viscount Castle Stuart, in the County of Tyrone, in the Peerage of Ireland, and in 1800 he was further honoured when he was made Earl Castle Stewart, in the County of Tyrone, also in the Peerage of Ireland.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. His eldest son, the third Earl, died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Earl. His only son, the fifth Earl, assumed in 1867 by Royal license the additional surname of Richardson (which was that of his father-in-law). He died without male issue and was succeeded by his first cousin, the sixth Earl. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Reverend the Hon. Andrew Godfrey Stewart, fourth son of the second Earl. His two elder sons were both killed in the First World War and he was therefore succeeded by his third son, the seventh Earl. He represented Harborough in the House of Commons as a Unionist. His two elder sons were both killed in the Second World War and like his father Lord Castle Stewart was succeeded by his third son, the eighth Earl and (as of 2007) present holder of the titles.

Another member of the Stewart family was Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven. He was a younger son of the first Lord Avondale (of the second creation).

As of 30 June 2006, the present holder of the earldom has not successfully proven his succession to the baronetcy and is therefore not on the Official Roll of the Baronetage, with the baronetcy considered dormant (for more information follow this link).

The ancestral seat of the Earls Castle Stewart is the Stuart Hall Estate in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, which remains in the ownership of the family in addition to several substantial agricultural estates in England, primarily in the West Country.

Contents

[edit] Lords Avondale (c. 1499)

[edit] Lords Stuart of Ochiltrie (1542)

  • Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Stuart of Ochiltrie (d. 1548)
  • Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Stuart of Ochiltrie (c. 1521-1591)
  • Andrew Stuart, 3rd Lord Stuart of Ochiltrie (d. 1560-1629) (resigned lordship in 1615 and created Baron Castle Stewart in 1619)

[edit] Barons Castle Stewart (1619)

  • Andrew Stewart, 1st Baron Castle Stewart (1560-1629)
  • Andrew Stewart, 2nd Baron Castle Stewart (d. 1639)
  • Andrew Stewart, 3rd Baron Castle Stewart (d. 1650)
  • Josias Stewart, 4th Baron Castle Stewart (d. 1662)
  • John Stewart, 5th Baron Castle Stewart (d. 1685) (dormant 1685)
  • Robert Stewart, de jure 6th Baron Castle Stewart (d. 1686)
  • Andrew Stewart, de jure 7th Baron Castle Stewart (1672-1715)
  • Robert Stewart, de jure 8th Baron Castle Stewart (1700-1742)
  • Andrew Thomas Stewart, 9th Baron Castle Stewart (1725-1809) (claimed 1774; created Earl Castle Stewart in 1800)

[edit] Earls Castle Stewart (1800)

The Heir Apparent is the present holder's son Andrew Richard Charles Stuart, Viscount Stuart (b. 1953)

[edit] See also

[edit] References