Sir John Stewart, 1st Baronet

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Sir John Henderson Stewart, 1st Baronet (c.1880–6 February 1924) was a Scottish whisky distiller.

Stewart was sole partner of Alexander Stewart & Son, whisky distillers, of Dundee, and was also deputy chairman of Sheffield Steel Products. He was created a baronet in the 1920 Birthday Honours.

On 7 February 1924 his body was discovered at Fingask Castle, his Perthshire home, by two businessmen who had come for a meeting with him. He had been shot through the head. He was last seen the previous day by the driver of a taxi which he took to the castle, which was otherwise unoccupied at the time, from Dundee. He was deeply in debt at the time, as his business was not doing well and an Edinburgh company in which he also had large interests, Aitken, Melrose & Co Ltd, had collapsed the previous day. An inquest returned a verdict of suicide. He was 44 years old.

On 1 October 1924, one of Stewart's creditors, John Quiller Rowett, to whom he owed nearly £100,000, hanged himself in his London home.

[edit] References

• Obituary, The Times, 8 February 1924
• "Mr. J. Q. Rowett's Death", The Times, 4 October 1924