Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney

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Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney and Lord of Shetland (b. c1563 – d. 6 February 1615) was the son of Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney.

In his youth Patrick Stewart was a good friend of his relative James VI; however, their relations became strained in the 1590s after Patrick succeeded his father as Earl of Orkney. In 1599 Earl Patrick began to build Scalloway Castle at Scalloway in the Shetland Islands partly to strengthen his power there against Laurence Bruce, who had been appointed Sheriff of Shetland by his half brother, the deceased Earl Robert. In 1607 Earl Patrick began the construction of the Earl's Palace in Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Islands.

Earl Patrick's financial mismanagement and his brutality against the local population led to opposition from Laurence Bruce and others. According to tradition a force was sent against him in Scalloway and took him prisoner back to Edinburgh. There he was convicted on a charge of treason and beheaded in 1615. While he was in prison, Earl Patrick's son Robert had led an armed rebellion in Kirkwall. Robert was defeated and hanged. After Patrick's death the earldom was annexed to the crown, but was recreated in 1696 for George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, the husband of Elizabeth Villiers, recently discarded mistress of King William III.