House of Stewart in America
Jon Presco <braskewitz <at> yahoo.com>
2011-08-17 20:03:31 GMT
¡û Christine Rosamond BentonRose of the World Prophecy ¡úThe American House of Stewart
Posted on August 15, 2011 by Royal Rosamond Press
On Sunday the fourteenth of August, I discovered that the Preston family married into the House of Stewart,
and thus my family are kin to this royal family that includes Princess Diana and her two sons, William and
Harry Windsor. Now I know why the Queen stayed at Blair House, and why John Breckenridge fled to England
after he lost the Civil War ¨C that the House of Stewart may have backed! This is huge!
She was the daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy and Hon. Mary Coote.1,2 From 1692, her
married name became Preston.2 From 1709, her married name became Forbes. As a result of her marriage, Hon.
Mary Stewart was styled as Countess of Granard on 24 August 1734.
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Phineas Preston
Jane Preston+2 b. c 1690, d. a 12 Nov 1746
Mary Preston2 b. 1696, d. 1749
Colonel John Preston+2 b. 1699, d. 1747
Jon Presco
Copyright 2011
http://thepeerage.com/p15313.htm
http://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/christine-rosamond-benton/
http://www.mckinneyandstewart.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I0183&tree=McKinneyandStewart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Stewart
Sir William Stewart, 1st Bt.1
M, #24William Stewart, 1st Earl of Blessington
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William Stewart, 1st Earl of Blessington (7 April 1709 ¨C 14 August 1769)[1] was an Anglo-Irish peer and
member of the House of Lords, styled The Honourable until 1728 and known as William Stewart, 3rd Viscount
Mountjoy from 1728 to 1745.
Sir William Stewart was born on 7 April 1709, the son of William Stewart, 2nd Viscount Mountjoy (1675-1727)
and Anne Boyle. He married Eleanor Fitzgerald, daughter of Robert Fitzgerald on 10 January 1733. They had
two children, William Stewart and Lionel Robert, both of whom died before their father.
He succeeded his father as Viscount Mountjoy on 10 January 1727. He was Grand Master of the Freemasons (in
Ireland) between 1738 and 1740. He was created Earl of Blessington on 7 December 1745, his mother having
been sister and sole heiress of Charles, 2nd and last Viscount Blesington. He was made Governor of County
Tyrone and in 1748, was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland.
On his death in London on 14 August 1769 he was buried at Silchester in Hampshire. His peerages became
extinct, but his baronetcy was inherited by a distant cousin, Sir Annesley Stewart
The House of Stewart (also known as the House of Stuart) is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of
Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and
subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland. Their direct ancestors (from
Brittany) had held the title High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, after arriving by way of
Norman England. The dynasty inherited further territory by the 17th century which covered the entire
British Isles, including the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland, also upholding a claim to the
Kingdom of France.
In total, nine Stewart monarchs ruled just Scotland from 1371 until 1603. After this there was a Union of the
Crowns under James VI & I who had become the senior genealogical claimant to all of the holdings of the
extinct House of Tudor. Thus there were six Stuart monarchs who ruled both England and Scotland as well as
Ireland (although the Stuart era was interrupted by an interregnum lasting from 1649¨C1660, as a result
of the English Civil War). Additionally at the foundation of the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Acts of
Union, which politically united England and Scotland, the first monarch was Anne of Great Britain. After
her death, all the holdings passed to the House of Hanover, under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.
4
Last Edited=19 Jan 2009
His will was probated in 1647.2
Sir William Stewart, 1st Bt. was Captain of the company of 100 Scottish soldiers in June 1608 in Ireland.2 He
was invested as a Knight in 1613.2 He was created 1st Baronet Stewart, of Ramalton, co. Donegal [Ireland]
in 1623.1
Children of Sir William Stewart, 1st Bt.
Anne Stewart+1
Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Bt.+2 d. 3 Sep 1650
Mary Stewart1
F, #27914, b. circa 1677, d. 4 October 1765
Hon. Mary Stewart|b. c 1677\nd. 4 Oct 1765|p2792.htm#i27914|William Stewart, 1st Viscount
Mountjoy||p2792.htm#i27913|Hon. Mary Coote||p25242.htm#i252415|Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd
Bt.|d. 3 Sep 1650|p33068.htm#i330678|Catherine Newcomen|d. 8 Dec 1714|p15262.htm#i152616|Richard
Coote, 1st Lord Coote, Baron of Coloony|b. 1620\nd. 10 Jul 1683|p12954.htm#i129532|Mary St. George|d.
5 Nov 1701|p12954.htm#i129533|
Last Edited=19 Jan 2009
Hon. Mary Stewart was born circa 1677.2 She married, firstly, Phineas Preston in 1692 at Mountjoy,
Ireland.2,1 She married, secondly, Vice-Admiral George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard, son of Arthur
Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard and Mary Rawdon, in 1709.1 She died on 4 October 1765.1 She was also reported to
have died on 4 October 1758.2
She was the daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy and Hon. Mary Coote.1,2 From 1692, her
married name became Preston.2 From 1709, her married name became Forbes. As a result of her marriage, Hon.
Mary Stewart was styled as Countess of Granard on 24 August 1734.
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Phineas Preston
Jane Preston+2 b. c 1690, d. a 12 Nov 1746
Mary Preston2 b. 1696, d. 1749
Colonel John Preston+2 b. 1699, d. 1747
Nathaniel Preston2 b. c 1700
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Vice-Admiral George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard
Lady Mary Forbes1 d. 27 Nov 1797
Lt.-Gen. George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard+1 b. 15 Mar 1710, d. 16 Oct 1769
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Sir William Stewart
Abt 1582 ¨C 1646
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Personal Information | Media | Sources | All | PDF
Birth
Abt 1582
Wigtownshire, Scotland [1]
Gender
Male
Education
1613
Knighted [2]
_FA2
2 May 1623
Erected a Baronet of Ireland [2]
Died
1646
Ireland
Will
28 Jul 1647
Will proven
Notes
THE STEWARTS IN IRELAND
¡°Amongst the many branches of the Stewart family that have been transplanted out of Scotland, there
have been few that have attained to the degree of wealth and influence which this line of Ulster Stewarts
reached in the 17th and 18th centuries. The principal seat was formerly at Newtown-Stewart, County
Tyrone, which takes its name from Sir William Stewart, 1st Baronet, who was its founder, and the ruins of
the castle of his descendants, the Lords Mountjoy, in the Elizabethan style though not dating back
earlier than the middle of the 17th century, are still a picturesque feature of this beautifully situated
little Ulster town.
Sir William first went to Ireland, as Captain Stewart, in the year 1608, as evidenced by the following entry
in the register of the Privy Council of Scotland:
Edinburgh,
June 21, 1608.
Letter from the Council to the Governor of Knockfergus: Having ressavit directioun from our most sacred
Soveraigne, the Mngis Majestie, to send over tua hundreth men of warr for assisting and furthering his
Majisteis service ¡°in that Kingdome . . . we have accordingly sent thame unto you under the charge of
thir two gentilmen, Capitane Patrik Craufurde and Capitane Williame Stewart¡±.
¡°In the following year Captain Stewart was strongly recommended by the King to the Lord Deputy of
Ireland for special favour in the distribution of lands, at the Plantation of Ulster. A despatch to the
Lord Deputy, in State Papers, Irish Series, bearing date 19th June 1609, conveys the message that His
Majesty desires ¡± extraordinary respect to be shown to him (Captain Stewart) when the distribution
shall come It so that . . . he may therein be regarded before another¡±.
Captain Stewart¡¯s name was, accordingly, included in the list of ¡± Servitors ¡± (i.e., persons in
the Government service) recommended for grants of land at the Plantation, and on 30th November 1610, he
was vested by Letters Patent with a it proportion¡± of 1,000 acres along the western shore of the upper
part of Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal. This property was erected into the Manor of Stewart¡¯s Fort, and on it
Captain Stewart constructed a fortified dwelling known by the name of Fort-Stewart,¡± which became
the residence of his youngest son, Thomas Stewart, and the latter¡¯s descendants till about the year
1780, when Sir Annesley Stewart, 6th Baronet, who had become head of the family in 1769, acquired a more
commodious and modern type of residence, known as Brookehill, within a mile or two of the old fortified
house. He changed the name of ¡°Brookehill¡± to ¡± Fort-Stewart,¡± and this house remains the
residence of his successor in the fourth generation, Sir H. J. U. Stewart, present and Ilth Baronet.
Captain Nicholas Pynnar¡¯s Survey 1618 of the Land Grants in the year 1608 in the Barony of Raphoe list
William Stewart, brother of Lord Garlies, as receiving 1,500 acres in the Precint of Boilage and Banagh.
County Donegal on the Net, list William Stewart, Esq. as receiving a land grant in the year 1608 in the
Barony of Boylagh, County Donegal. (I am unable to explain the descrepancy in dates, locations and
acreage. (Note to File ¨C JPRhein)
A further letter from the King recommending Captain Stewart to the special attention of the Lord Deputy is
in State Papers, Irish Series, under date of 26th January 1612-13, and this led to his being granted an
additional proportion of 1500 acres in the Barony of Strabane, Co. Tyrone, which had been surrendered by
the original grantee. He subsequently acquired, either by grant or purchase, further lands of large
extent in the counties of Tyrone and Donegal. To his lands in the Barony of Strabane, Co. Tyrone, he gave the
name of Newtown-Stewart estate; those in the Barony of Clogher in the same county, became the
Mount-Stewart estate; and those in the Barony of Kilmacrenan, Co. Donegal, were designated the
Ramelton, Fanad, and Fort-Stewart estates. On the Mount-Stewart property he built the great castle of
Aughentaine, which was destroyed during the disturbances which broke out in 1641. Mount-Stewart was
officially renamed Fivemiletown about the beginning of the 19th century, and it figures under the latter
name on present day maps. The ruins of Aughentaine Castle are shown a short distance to the north.
Captain Stewart was knighted at Royston in 1613, and was created a Baronet of Ireland in 1623. He played a
large part in civil and military affairs in Ireland till his death late in 1646, and was a member of the Privy
Council and a General in the army. He was succeeded as 2nd Baronet by his eldest son, Sir Alexander Stewart.
The latter, besides being a military commander of considerable repute, wa¡¯s a zealous Covenanter,
and is described in Patrick Adair¡¯s True Narrative of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 1623-1670,
as ¡± a gentleman of great integrity and fervent in propagating the gospel interest in the districts
around Derry.¡± Sir Alexander is chiefly known to history for having conducted the First Siege of Derry
in the year 1649, when the city was held for the English Parliament by Sir Charles Coote.¡± (Source ¨C
The Stewarts, Volume VI, The Stewarts In Ireland, Walter A. Stewart, London, S.W. 3, September 1, 1933)
The Right Honorable Sir William Stewart, 1st Baronet of Newtownstewart, County Tyrone, and Ramelton,
County Donegal, went over to Ireland in 1608 as Captain commanding a company of Scottish troops sent to
serve in that country. ( See Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, June 21, 1608) He is stated by
Douglas of Glenbervied in his ¡°Historical and Genealogical Tree of Royal Family of Scotland and name
of Stewart¡±, 1750 to have been a son of Archibald Stewart, 3rd laird of Fintalloch, who died around 1506
(On review this date may have been incorrectly copied by J.P. Rhein or it is incorrect. This will have to be
checked further.) and whose family descended from Sir William Stewart, 2nd of Garlies (see Galloway
Earl). (Source ¨C Burke¡¯s Peerage and Baronetage)
Sir William Stewart was in great favor with King James VI, who in 1610 granted him 1,000 acres in the barony of
Kilmacrean in County Donegal, Ireland, for the plantation of escheated lands in Ulster. William was a
member of the privy council of King James VI and of King Charles I. He was a very prominent man in northern
Ireland. He led the Ulster forces during the Irish rebellion of 1641 and decisively defeated Sir Phelim
O¡¯Neill on June 16, 1642. Sir William resided at Aughentean and Newtown-Stewart, County Tyrone.
Among his many possessions was a demesne of 300 acres in County Donegal, upon which he built in 1618 a four
story castle, called Ramelton, and a town consisting of 45 houses. (Source ¨C Stewart Clan Magazine,
Volume XI-XV, 1933-1938, page 141)
Sir William Stewart in 1613 bought 1,500 acres granted in 1610 to James Haig, gentleman, in the precinct of
Strabane, County Tyrone. (Source ¨C Stewart Clan Magazine, Volume XI-XV, 1933-1938, page 118)
¡°William Stewart, 1st Baronet Ramelton, started out as Captain William Stewart of Whithorn. He was
granted lands under the Plantation scheme as a Servitor rather than an Undertaker, in reward for his
military service in Ireland under King James I of England. He was granted ¡®Gortavagie¡¯ by James and
also he received ¡®Ramelton¡¯ which had originally been granted to Sir Richard Hansard. Shortly
thereafter he also took over the lands in County Tyrone of James Haig, which eventually became known as
Newtownstewart, and later still land in Clogher Barony; also in County Tyrone, which he renamed Mount
Stewart and which is now known as Fivemiletown. He married Frances Newcomen, and was knighted in 1623. He
was made a Baronet of Ramelton in 1623 and died in 1646¡å (Source ¨C Mary Stewart Kyritsis)
¡°Sir William Stewart emigrated to Ireland during the planation of Ulster, in the time of King James VI of
Scotland who inherited the English throne as James I of England. Sir William married Frances Newcomer,
daughter of Sir Robert Newcomer of Mosstown, County Longford. He sat in the Irish parliament for County
Donegal in 1613-1615, and was created a baronet on May 2, 1623. He served with distinction against the
Irish rebels in 1641 and 1642. He had at least two sons.¡± (Source ¨C Letter from Mary Hazeltine Cole)
¡°James I (of England) (1566-1625), king of England (1603-1625) and, as James VI, king of Scotland
(1567-1625). Born in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots. When Mary
was forced to abdicate in 1567, he was proclaimed king of Scotland. He assumed actual rule in 1581.
Scotland was at that time divided by conflict between the Protestants and the Roman Catholics. James
tried unsuccessfully to advance the cause of religious peace in Europe, but he repressed both Catholics
and Protestants at various times. In 1586 James formed an alliance with his cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of
England. He replaced the feudal power of the nobility with a strong central government, and maintaining
the divine right of kings, he enforced the superiority of the state over the church. In 1603 James
succeeded Queen Elizabeth as James I, the first Stuart king of England. His belief in divine right led to
prolonged conflict with Parliament. James authorized a new translation of the Bible, generally called
the King James Version. James I was succeeded to the throne by his son, Charles I.¡± (Source ¨C The
Encarta 99 Desk Encyclopedia Copyright 1998 Microsoft Corporation)
¡°After the first shock of the rebellion and the initial frantic defence measures, the Protestants
began to hit back. For example, volunteers from the Laggan district, County Donegal, near Londonderry,
launched a counter-attack in early summer 1642, organized by two brothers and professional soldiers,
Sir William and Sir Robert Stewart. The Laggin men swiftly recaptured Strabane; relieved Lemavady,
destroyed rebel bands in the Magilligan Peninsula, swept through Roe Valley and at the Gelvin Burn near
Dungiven finally, relieving Colerain .¡± (Source ¨C Ulster¡¯s Defence Tradition by Robert K. Campbell)
¡°The plantation of Ulster was fully planned by the English and Scottish Privy Councils in 1610. Land was
assigned to British undertakers during April and May. Undertakers had to be in residence by September
1610, and to have fulfilled their conditions of settlement by Easter 1613. The enterprise attracted
those pressed hard by the cost of living, in Scotland as well as England.¡± (Source ¨C Modern Ireland
1600-1972 by R. F. Foster)
¡°In 1600, Ulster was synonymous with wildness and untamed Gaelicism: separate by nature and
geography, least inhabited, least developed economically, least urbanized. Less than two percent of
the population of Ireland was of Scots or English descent; but by the early 1700s the proportion had soared
to 27 percent.¡± (Source ¨C Modern Ireland 1600-1972 by R. F.Foster)
See Links Section on this site for ¡°An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the
Commencement of the Seventeeth Century 1608 -1620¡å, by the Reverend George Hill. There is a specific
reference to Sir William Stewart on pages 322,323,522,533,544 and 545. (Note to File -JP Rhein)
¡°The following excerpts are taken from The Adair Manuscript section: In May 1642, about 10,000 troops
from the Scottish army were sent to Ireland by the Parliament of England. The Irish were rebelling and
reportedly encouraged by ¡°the Popish clergy and the Bishop of Raphoe¡±. The King committed the
managing of the war to the Parliament of England. The Presbyterian ministers were attempting to
administer the ¡°solemn League and Covenant to the army,¡± but the Mayor of Derry sent a Captain
Hepburn to the ministers to invite them to a conference in his chambers. ¡°There he showed them a letter
from the Parliament of England, recommending to them the taking of the covenant when it should come to the
Scotch army and withal, a proclamation by those who then ruled in Dublin, prohibiting the taking of it and
declared his great straits what to choose.¡± It appears that no decision was made and the ministers left
him¡¯ They soon ¡°received another discouraging letter from Sir Robert Stewart, sent by Major
Galbraith. It appears that the Presbyterian ministers continued to preach and administer the covenant
to the people, which included many soldiers in the army. Mr. Phillips about Ballycastle (near
Newtownlimabady), set himself against it, and did endeavor to dissuade the garrison thereabout from it.
And Sir Robert Stewart, with Mr. Humphrey Galbraith, was using the same endeavours about Derry, having
heard that the ministers were coming there. Afterwards the ministers went towards Enniskillen
¡®without sight of the enemy. For the Irish, who were protected, hearing the covenant was coming that
way, fled, because they heard that the covenant was to extirpate all Papists, and was against protecting them.¡±
They next went to Ramelton, where they received the rest of Sir William Stewart¡¯s regiment, and many of
Colonel Mervyn¡¯s, contrary to his threatenings. also, one of those who opposed the covenant at Raphoe
entered into it with apparent ingenuousness. From this place they returned to Derry, where Sir Robert
Stewart, Colonel Mervyn and Major James Galbraith came now to hear the ministers preach and explain the
covenant. A document dated on 14 December 1642, in the records of Fermanagh, Ireland: ¡®The last true
Intelligence from Ireland; Being a true Relation of the great Victory lately obtained against the Rebels
by Sir William Stewart, Colonel Sanderson, Colonel Mervyn, and Sergeant Major Galbraith against the
great O¡¯Neales and MacGwires Forces, wherein they slew great numbers of the Rebels, took 900 cows, 500
sheep, and 300 horses from the Rebels in the County of Fermanagh. Sir William Stewart understanding that a
party of Oneales in the Kirrilrs Woodes, sent out Captain Balfoure, a deserving soldier, with a hundred
men, who skirmished with them, killing fifty rebels, and lost but four of his own men, and took away four
hundred cows from the Rebels. Some four days after Sir William Stewart desired Lieutenant Colonel
Sanderson, Lieutenant Colonel Audley Mervin, and Sergeant-Major James Galbraith to march from
Newtowne to relieve Ageer and Aghatyan, with five hundred foot and a hundred horse.¡± (Source ¨C The
Redtower, Clan Galbraith Association International, Volume XX, No. 3, March 1999)
A copy of ¡°The Stewarts¡± by Walter A. Stewart, 10 Durham Place, Chelsea, London, September 1, 1933,
is filed in the research files of J. P. Rhein, Volume 4, Packet D. This is a 49 page detailed document dealing
with these Stewarts in Ireland. It also contains several dissenting views as true line of descent of these
Stewarts. (Note to file JP Rhein)
¡°GEORGE CRAWFURD (or Crawford), a Scottish historian with a bent for genealogy, whose works were
published at Edinburgh in 1710 and around then, gave his opinion of the origin of the Mountjoy Stewarts in
Ireland, several generations after those Stewarts were settled there. Apparently he got his
information from conversations with fourth or fifth cousins of the Mountjoy branch-not from signed
documents nor, of course, contemporary witnesses. Crawford named Archibald Stewart of Fintalloch, in
Kirkcudbrightshire, but did niot trace his ancestry, because the descendants with whom he talked did not
know it themselves. They dimly knew that they were cadets of the Stewarts of Garlies, because the earls of
Galloway, who presented the eldest branch of that strain, were their super chiefs.
In the reigns of William & Mary and Queen Anne, when Crawford worked, the fame of the Lords Mountjoy,
grandson and great-grandson of the first Sir William Stewart, was widespread. Anybody who could claim
relationship to them was proud to do so. The Stewarts of Fintalloch whom Crawford talked with included
particularly William Stewart of Culgruff, probably in Kirkcudbrightshire, secretary to the dukes of
Queensberry, for it was he who first rook an interest in the Fintalloch ancestry and hired a genealogist,
Rev. Andrew Symson, to look it up. This Willam Stewart of Culgruff was the eldest son of Archibald Stewart
of Culgruff, second son of John Stewart of Shambellie, in Dumfriesshire. John was a son of John Stewart of
Allans, son of John and Bessie (Newell) Stewart of Auchinleck. John was a younger son of Archibald
Stewart, jr. of Fintalloch, second son of Archibald and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Stewart of Fintalloch.
Archibald and Elizabeth¡¯s elder son was William, called Black William: he inherited the lease of
Fintalloch, married Janet Gordon but left no issue, and died July 24, 1595, at the court of Queen
Elizabeth. His brother Archibald succeeded to Fintalloch: he married a daughter of McLellan of Bombie
and had these children, as listed by Crawford ¨C Richard, who succeeded to Fintalloch ; John of
¡°Allans¡±, James, ¡°ancestor of Archibald Stewart, the great Whig with the whiskers who lives in
the Cowgate (Edinburgh)¡±; Robert, ¡°ancestor of the Lords Mountjoy in Ireland¡±; and Archibald
¡°of Heisilside. Crawford overlooked a son William and supposed that Robert, whose name, was quite as
distinguished as William¡¯s in the early settlement of Ulster, was the great-grandfather of the Lord
Mountjoy of his (Crawford¡¯s) time. He took a stab at it, and came as close as anybody could who depended
on what he had heard.¡± (Source ¨C Stewart Clan Magazine, Tome H, Volume 37, Number 6, December 1959)
THE PLANATION AND SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND
The following excerpts were taken from Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research Volume 1, Repositories
and Records, by Margaret Dickson Falley, B.S., published by Genealogical Publishing Col, Inc. 1981.
¡°On the whole, the Plantation and Settlement of Ireland carried out the principal object of the Crown
and the English Government (including that of the Commonwealth) over a period of one hundred and fifty
years, to eventually subjugate Ireland by confiscation, and plant the realm with new land-lords, loyal
to the State, who would supply revenue to the Government, maintain English law administered by
representatives from England, and furnish protection by locally supported military forces. Thus the
forfeitures of individual estates by ¡°enemies of the State¡± are a part of the series of Plantation
and Settlement records which set forth the changes in ownership and tenure of Irish lands.
The Presbyterians in Ireland were largely Ulster Scots. During two and a half centuries after the first
plantation of Scottish Presbyterian colonies in Ulster, ca. 1606, they maintained a close connection
with their homeland, while they remained a race apart from their Irish and English neighbors. They were
hated by the Roman Catholics of Ulster, whose land they had usurped. They were despised by the English,
whose Government and Established Church inflicted persecution upon them due to religious non-conformity.
The Ulster Scots kept their racial strain pure in matters of intermarriage. They sent their sons to
Scotland to be educated for the ministry, etc. Many of them married there before they returned to Ulster.
Thus they remained under the influence of Scottish religion, philosophy, and family ties to their early
and some later generations.
While the Presbyterians who settled in Ulster were almost solidly Scottish, there were many English
Puritans of Calvinistic doctrine who settled in Dublin and the South of Ireland. The English type of
Presbyterianism lacked the more severe theology and discipline of the Scottish Church. Their
congreations in Leinster and Munster were the outgrowth of the English Puritans and Independents of the
Commonwealth period, left there without organization after the Restoration. These two sects united in
1696 and developed the Southern Association of the Presbyterian Church. This became the Presbytery of
Munster and a part of the General Synod.
Historians of Church and local off airs, and the genealogists, have preserved a wealth of published and
manuscript records regarding Presbyterian families and individuals.
A few points which may puzzle genealogists will be clarified by a brief review of the history of the
Presbyterians and their problems, due to the laws of the realm regarding dissenters from the Established
Church of Ireland. This will show that less than half of the Presbyterian families were permanently
settled in Ireland before 1650. The Penal Laws and other Acts of Parliament, depriving Presbyterians of
religious and civil liberty, were during some periods more rigorously imposed in Scotland than in
Ireland, thus resulting in a large emigration to Ulster. At other times the Ulster Presbyterians were
more severely penalized, causing several ministers and many Church members to return to Scotland. At all
times until well into the eighteenth century, the religious laws and practices resulted in the entries of
many records of baptism, marriage and burial, in the Parish Registers of the Established Church.
The first wave of Presbyterian settlers come to Ulster as leasers of the numerous Scottish proprietors who
were granted estates by James I, 1605-1625. By patent of 16 April 1605, the northeast quarter of County
Down was granted to Hugh Montgomery and the northwest quarter was granted to James Hamilton. This
represented two-thirds of the estates forfeited by Con O¡¯Neill, who later was forced to sell his
remaining lands to the benefit of Hamilton and Montgomery. The southern part of County Down remained in
Roman Catholic hands. The new proprietors were required by the Crown to live on their estates, build
houses, churches, and bring English or Scottish settlers as tenants, able to bear arms for the King, build
houses and develop their land. Hamilton and Montgomery brought emigrants from the Scottish counties of
Ayre, Renfrew, Wigtown, Dumfries and Kirkcudbright. They began coming in May 1606. By 1610, Montgomery
could muster 1,000 men for the King and in 1614, the two proprietors mustered 2,000 men, representing
about 10,000 Scots settled in County Down.
Sir Arthur Chicester received a large portion in the southern part of County Antrim. In 1603, he was granted
the ¡°Castle of Belfast¡± and surrounding property. He soon afterward acquired land along
Carrickfergus Bay and to the north almost as far as Lough Larne. He at first settled an English colony
around Belfast, but before long the Scottish settlers predominated throughout the lower half of County
Antrim. The upper half had been in the hands of the Macdonnell clan since about 1580. Soon after 1607, the
area was granted to Randall Macdonnell who, in 1620, became the Earl of Antrim.
Scottish tenants also spread through his estates, being required to bear arms for the King and develop the
land. The flight of the Ulster Earls of Tyrone and Tyrcommel with their Chiefs who were confederates, on 14
September 1607, gave James I the opportunity to confiscate their lands for past and present treason. The
six counties of Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone, were escheated to the
Crown. This great confiscation, of some 3,800,000 acres, lead to the carefully planned ¡°Plantation
of Ulster¡± between 1608 and 1620. Of this land, about 1,500,000 acres were only partly fertile and
largely bog, forest, and mountain country. This was restored to the Irish Roman Catholic natives.
Extensive grants were reserved for the bishops and their incumbents of the Established Church. Trinity
College, Dublin, and other Royal Schools received about 20,000 acres. Land was also set aside for the
corporate towns, forts, etc. The remaining half million acres of the most fertile land was reserved for
colonization by English and Scottish settlers.
King James at first chose fifty-nine Scotsmen of high social standing and influence and nearly as many
Englishmen, together with fifty-six military officers or ¡°servitors¡± and eight-six natives, as
undertakers who were to receive estates of 2,000 acres of less, in all counties but Londonderry which was
reserved for the Corporation of the City of London. Eventually, by 1630, some undertakers acquired as
much as 3,000 acres, and estates in County Londonderry came into private hands.
Through the influence of John Knox, the foundations of the Presbyterian Church were laid in Scotland and
the first General Assembly was called in 1560. James VI of Scotland who succeeded to the English throne as
James I, in 1603, was determined to strengthen the Established Church in Scotland. Melville, the leading
Presbyterian of the time, was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and the General Assembly was forbidden to
function. Presbyterian ministers and their adherents alike were severely persecuted by the bishops, to
bring them under Church control.
At the same time, King James was anxious for a large settlement of English and Scots in Ireland. The latter
came to Ulster for new land but also for religious liberty, attracted by the tolerant attitude maintained
there by the bishops. The new Confession of Faith, sanctioned by Parliament for the Plantation
Settlements, reconciled the differences between Anglicans and Presbyterians. It was Calvinistic in
doctrine and allowed Presbyterian ministers to serve as clergy in the parish churches according to their
own practices and beliefs. This encouraged the Scottish ministers to follow their countrymen to Ulster.
The easy cooperation of the bishops in Ulster changed after 1625, and the ministers preached under
increasing restrictions. This came about through the influence of William Laud, Archbishop of
Canterbury, over Charles I. They were determined to tighten the control of the Established Church and
this was reflected in Ireland.
To make matters worse, Wentworth (Earl of Strafford) was appointed to the Irish Vice-royalty and arrived
in Dublin in 1633. He and his government began a reign of terror for Roman Catholics and Presbyterians
alike. He followed Laud¡¯s policy to the letter. The earlier ¡°Articles of Religion¡± were set
aside and the ministers were required to adopt a Confession of Faith embodying the Thirty-nine Articles
of the Church of England. He further ordered the Act of Uniformity to be enforced against the ministers.
This declared that every clergyman or minister celebrating any religious service other than that of the
Established Church, every layman assisting at such a service and every person who opposed the liturgy of
the Church, was liable on the third offense to confiscation of goods and imprisonment for life.
John M¡¯Clelland, of Newtownards, was deposed but continued to preach, and was therefore excommunicated.
In 1636, Robert Blair, Robert Hamilton, John M¡¯Clelland and John Livingstone organized a group of 140
Scottish settlers to emigrate to New England. They set sail in September, 1636, and when half way across,
were driven back by storms. The ministers, to escape arrest, fled to Scotland, accompanied by many of
their adherents. At this time Scotland had become a safe refuge.
The crowning blow to Ulster came in 1639 when the ¡°Black Oath¡± was imposed. The clergy were required
to read it from their pulpits and the people were forced to swear on their knees, if over age sixteen, to obey
the King¡¯s commands and to abjure and renounce the Covenant. The clergy were ordered to report on every
Presbyterian in each parish. Some conformed. Landed proprietors such as the Hamiltons and the
Montgomerys betrayed their faith and joined the persecutors. Great numbers, who could re-establish
themselves in Scotland, returned there. As many as 500 at a time returned to Scotland for the Communion season.
This persecution and departure of many Scots from Ulster saved hundreds of lives during the Rebellion
which broke out in 1641. The Roman Catholics, determined to exterminate the English, also hated the
Presbyterians for settling on their forfeited land. They tortured and murdered thousands and drove
others out of their homes to die of privation. Reprisals by the settlers, and a Scottish army sent to
Ulster, were equally devastating.
Following the Rebellion, after 1652, the Presbyterians came from Scotland to Ulster in great numbers,
owing to the unsettled conditions while Cromwell was attacking the Scottish Royalists. Some, who had
fled Ulster during the early years of the Rebellion, returned after Scottish forces made their safety
more assured. When peace was established, Cromwell at first held the Presbyterians suspect for having
supported the Royalist cause. After a little time they were allowed to flourish and many of their
ministers were permitted to preach under ecclesiastical control of the new State Church. By 1658, there
were eighty congregations and seventy Presbyterian ministers organized into five Presbyteries and a
General Synod.
The Presbyterians who were in Ulster in 1659, if settled in one of the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Donegal,
Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry or Monaghan, are listed in A Census of Ireland, circa 1659, edited by Seamus
Pender, Dublin, 1939. Records for the counties of Cavan and Tyrone are omitted, due to the fact that the
original documents were not preserved.
Following the restoration of Charles II, in 1660, he who had pledged his loyalty to the Presbyterian Church
when Scotland crowned him king, soon after his father¡¯s execution in 1649, now betrayed his word. He
and his Parliament returned the Established Church to power. Its lands and churches, taken by the
Commonwealth Government, were restored to the extent they were owned in 1641, and the bishops with their
clergy regained their positions.¡±
Person ID
I0183
McKinney and Stewart of Clarion County, Pennsylvania
Last Modified
20 May 2010
Father
Archibald Stewart of Barclyee, Wigtownshire, b. Abt 1550
Family ID
F0126
Group Sheet
Family
Frances Newcomen
Married
Abt 1610 [1]
Children
1. Catherine Stewart
>
2. Sir Alexander Stewart, b. Abt 1616, d. 3 Sep 1650, Killed at the battle of Dunbar, fighting on the royalist
side against Cromwell.
3. John Stewart, b. Abt 1618, d. Oct 1649, Put to death after trying to escape from the defenders of
Londonderry, Ireland
4. Robert Stewart, b. Abt 1622
5. William Stewart, b. Abt 1626
>
6. Thomas Stewart, b. Abt 1630, Fort Stewart, County Donegal, Ireland
Family ID
F0125
Group Sheet
Photos
County Donegal, Ireland
This is the Stewart Grotto behind the Killydonnell Friary. The Friary was founded in 1471 by the
O¡¯Donnells for the Franciscan Friars on the site of an older church erected by the O¡¯Tonners. The
bilding and lands were granted at the Planation, in 1603, to Captain Basil Brooke.
County Donegal,Ireland
Ramelton
County Donegal, Ireland
Lough Swilly behind the third old house at Ramelton.
County Donegal, Ireland
The bridge at Ramelton.
See Stewart Caveat for rendering of the bridge around 1609 to 1622.
County Tyrone, Ireland
Castle at Newtown-Stewart
Aughentaine Castle, in Aghintain Townland, was built in 1618 by Sir William Stewart. In 1622 it is was
described as a large Castle of Lyme & Stone, strong & defencible¡about it is a Bawne of lyme & stone,
211foot long, 112 foot broad & 10 foot high, with Flanckers¡±. Only fragments of this 17th century
fortified house remain. It was destroyed in 1641 and never rebuilt. The west wall stands to full height and
there are some fireplaces at the higher levels. The building was three storeys high plus attic. The main
block is aligned E-W and is about 17m by 10m externally.
A wing about 6m square projects from the middle of the north wall. In the angle between this wing and the W
portion of the main building there is a fine Scottish-type corbel, with 12 courses of corbels. This
carries the remains of a circular stairwell which rises from first floor level.
County Tyrone, Ireland
Castle at Newtown-Stewart
On the Mount-Stewart property Sir William Stewart built the great castle of Aughentaine, which was
destroyed during the disturbances which broke out in 1641.
County Tyrone, Ireland
Castle at Newtown-Stewart
On the Mount-Stewart property Sir William Stewart built the great castle of Aughentaine, which was
destroyed during the disturbances which broke out in 1641.
County Donegal, Ireland
In 1611 Sir William Stewart built Fort Stewart as a defence along the shores of Lough Swilly. When another
planter Sir Richard Hansard moved to Lifford, Stewart acquired Hansard¡¯s Ramelton estates.
In 1623 he was made a baronet and granted the castle of Ramelton, becoming the biggest landowner in the town.
He also gained valuable fishing rights on Lough Swilly.
Donegal had become a county in 1585, and Sir William Stewart was one of the county¡¯s three members of
parliament during the period 1613-15 and again in 1634. He is also credited with building part of
Letterkenny town, and with the formation of the ¡°Lagganeers¡± or Laggan army: this force were
victorious at the battle of Glenmaquin, defeating Sir Phelim O?Neill in 1641. The Stewarts of Ramelton
are buried in their family vault at Killydonnell Franciscan Friary, between Letterkenny and Ramelton.
Documents
County Donegal, Ireland
Land Ownership in 1618
Histories
The Plantation of Ulster.
In a figurative sense the term ¡°Plantation¡± is applied to the establishment of new colonies of
English, Welsh and Scots in Ireland, chiefly carried out by Elizabeth and James I. The preliminary ground
work was, however, laid by Henry VIII, and the first steps were taken during the reigns of Edward VI and Mary.
Sources
1. [S02864] The Stewart Society, 17 Dublin Street, Edinburgh.
2. [S02856] The Irish Times, Saturday, November 10, 1940
Mary Stewart1
F, #27914, b. circa 1677, d. 4 October 1765
Hon. Mary Stewart|b. c 1677\nd. 4 Oct 1765|p2792.htm#i27914|William Stewart, 1st Viscount
Mountjoy||p2792.htm#i27913|Hon. Mary Coote||p25242.htm#i252415|Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd
Bt.|d. 3 Sep 1650|p33068.htm#i330678|Catherine Newcomen|d. 8 Dec 1714|p15262.htm#i152616|Richard
Coote, 1st Lord Coote, Baron of Coloony|b. 1620\nd. 10 Jul 1683|p12954.htm#i129532|Mary St. George|d.
5 Nov 1701|p12954.htm#i129533|
Last Edited=19 Jan 2009
Hon. Mary Stewart was born circa 1677.2 She married, firstly, Phineas Preston in 1692 at Mountjoy,
Ireland.2,1 She married, secondly, Vice-Admiral George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard, son of Arthur
Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard and Mary Rawdon, in 1709.1 She died on 4 October 1765.1 She was also reported to
have died on 4 October 1758.2
She was the daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy and Hon. Mary Coote.1,2 From 1692, her
married name became Preston.2 From 1709, her married name became Forbes. As a result of her marriage, Hon.
Mary Stewart was styled as Countess of Granard on 24 August 1734.
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Phineas Preston
Jane Preston+2 b. c 1690, d. a 12 Nov 1746
Mary Preston2 b. 1696, d. 1749
Colonel John Preston+2 b. 1699, d. 1747
Nathaniel Preston2 b. c 1700
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Vice-Admiral George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard
Lady Mary Forbes1 d. 27 Nov 1797
Lt.-Gen. George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard+1 b. 15 Mar 1710, d. 16 Oct 1769
William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy1
M, #27913
William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy||p2792.htm#i27913|Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Bt.|d. 3 Sep
1650|p33068.htm#i330678|Catherine Newcomen|d. 8 Dec 1714|p15262.htm#i152616|Sir William
Stewart, 1st Bt.||p25.htm#i244||||Sir Robert Newcomen, 4th Bt.|d. 12 Aug
1677|p15262.htm#i152617|Anne Boleyn||p15262.htm#i152618|
Last Edited=19 Jan 2009
William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy married Hon. Mary Coote, daughter of Richard Coote, 1st Lord
Coote, Baron of Coloony and Mary St. George.1
He was the son of Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Bt. and Catherine Newcomen.2 He succeeded to the title of 3rd
Baronet Stewart, of Ramalton, co. Donegal [I., 1623] on 3 September 1650.1 He was created 1st Viscount
Mountjoy, of co. Tyrone [Ireland] on 19 March 1682/83.3 He was created 1st Baron Stewart of Ramalton, co.
Donegal [Ireland] on 19 March 1682/83.3
Children of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy
William Stewart, 2nd Viscount Mountjoy+4 d. 10 Jan 1727/28
Hon. Alexander Stewart+5
Children of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy and Hon. Mary Coote
Hon. Catherine Stewart+
Hon. Mary Stewart+6 b. c 1677, d. 4 Oct 1765
Citations
1. [S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke¡¯s Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes
(Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke¡¯s Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page
893. Hereinafter cited as Burke¡¯s Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
2. [S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard
de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United
Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,
Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IX, page 349. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
3. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume IX, page 350.
4. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume IX, page 351.
5. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume II, page 192.
6. [S37] Charles Mosley, Burke¡¯s Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 2, page 1628.
Hon. Mary Stewart1
F, #27914, b. circa 1677, d. 4 October 1765
Hon. Mary Stewart|b. c 1677\nd. 4 Oct 1765|p2792.htm#i27914|William Stewart, 1st Viscount
Mountjoy||p2792.htm#i27913|Hon. Mary Coote||p25242.htm#i252415|Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd
Bt.|d. 3 Sep 1650|p33068.htm#i330678|Catherine Newcomen|d. 8 Dec 1714|p15262.htm#i152616|Richard
Coote, 1st Lord Coote, Baron of Coloony|b. 1620\nd. 10 Jul 1683|p12954.htm#i129532|Mary St. George|d.
5 Nov 1701|p12954.htm#i129533|
Last Edited=19 Jan 2009
Hon. Mary Stewart was born circa 1677.2 She married, firstly, Phineas Preston in 1692 at Mountjoy,
Ireland.2,1 She married, secondly, Vice-Admiral George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard, son of Arthur
Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard and Mary Rawdon, in 1709.1 She died on 4 October 1765.1 She was also reported to
have died on 4 October 1758.2
She was the daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy and Hon. Mary Coote.1,2 From 1692, her
married name became Preston.2 From 1709, her married name became Forbes. As a result of her marriage, Hon.
Mary Stewart was styled as Countess of Granard on 24 August 1734.
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Phineas Preston
Jane Preston+2 b. c 1690, d. a 12 Nov 1746
Mary Preston2 b. 1696, d. 1749
Colonel John Preston+2 b. 1699, d. 1747
Nathaniel Preston2 b. c 1700
Children of Hon. Mary Stewart and Vice-Admiral George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard
Lady Mary Forbes1 d. 27 Nov 1797
Lt.-Gen. George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard+1 b. 15 Mar 1710, d. 16 Oct 1769
Sir William Stewart, 1st Bt.1
M, #244
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