Battle hymn

Walter Fitz Alan was sire of Stewarts
We are told`
At Hastings with the Conqueror
He was a warrior bold
They flourish by ancestral honors
Stewarts are pure gold.
The Clan goes marching on!

Glory to the name of Stewart
Glory to the House of Stewart
Avite Viret Honore!
The Clan goes marching on!

Robert, Duncan, John and James
Were fathers of our clan
James and Charles were
Kings of England.
James a handsome man
Was the Bonny Earl
The British loved their
Good Queen Anne
The Clan goes marching on!




Stuart of Bute Coat-of-Arms



Stewart Royal Tartan



Stewart Dress Tartan



Stewart Hunting Tartan



Castle Stuart

Scottish heritage

Alain de Dol (Alan of Dol) was according to tradition the father of Clan Stewart. He was a Seneschal (Steward) of Bretagne (Brittany), France. His son Flaald Fitz Alan, Baron of St. Florent, fought with William I the Duke of Normandy when he invaded England. Flaald's son Alan Fitz-Flaad was also in the army of William the Conquerer and was made Baron of Oswestry in Shropshire.

After the Norman invasion, this family acquired land and titles in England under the surname FitzAlan, which included becoming the Earls of Arundel. Walter Fitz Alan relocated to Scotland at the request of David I to help establish his rule. David I appointed Walter the 1st High Steward of Scotland. Malcolm IV made the office of High Steward hereditary. Their position as Stewards eventually led to the creation of the surname Stewart. 1

Genealogy

In the fourteenth century, Walter Stewart married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce (King Robert I of Scotland). 2 Their son became King Robert II and their descendants, the royal House of Stewart. Robert II gave to his son, Sir John Stewart the Isle of Bute and the title 1st Sheriff of Bute. Sir John's son William became 3rd Sheriff, whose son Sir James became 4th Sheriff, and whose son Sir Ninian became 6th Sherrif. Sir Ninian was also created hereditary Captain and Keeper of Rothesay Castle on Bute (built and owned by his Stewart ancestors) by James IV of Scotland, an honour still held by the family today.

Of some interest is that Sir Ninian married a Campbell yet his mother was a MacDonald of the most powerful clan in the Western Highlands. Within Sir Ninian's lifetime, King James IV forfeited MacDonald lands and their fortunes declined rapidly just as those of Clan Campbell, with royal blessing, were steadily rising. This caused friction leading to one of the longest and most infamous tribal feuds in world history. Sir Ninian’s son Sir James Stewart I of Ardmaleish, 7th Sheriff of Bute, suffered during the feud between the Earl of Arran who was regent of Scotland and the Earl of Lennox. Sir James was succeeded by his son, Sir John Thomas Stewart III of Ardmaleish, who attended the Parliament in Edinburgh as the Commissioner for Bute. The family favoured the French spelling of the name as Stuart, which was introduced by Mary Queen of Scots who had grown up in France.

Sir John Thomas was succeeded by his son Sir John Stewart IV of Ardmaleish, 9th Sheriff of Bute, Captain of Rothesay Castle. Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son Sir James Stewart, 1st Baron of Admaleish. Sir John's second son was Thomas Stewart, a Colonel in the army. Colonel Thomas' great-great-grandson Charles James Stewart was a Captain in the Royal Navy. Captain Charles' son Thomas Stewart was born 1790 in South Lambeth, Surrey, England. Thomas married Anne Sutton of Ilfracombe, Devon, England where they had six children:
1. Charles Stewart m 1815–1885
2. Captain Thomas Stewart (Junior) m 1817–1867
3. Captain John Stewart m 1826–1891
4. Charlotte Harriet Stewart f 1827–1893
5. William Duncan Stewart m 1832–1874
6. Francis Edward Stewart m 1833–1904

In 1839, Thomas Stewart (Senior) captained a civilian ship that left Bristol, England carrying his wife and family to colonial Australia. This Captain Thomas Stewart died 1861 at Neutral Bay, New South Wales. His eldest son Captain Thomas Stewart (Junior) was a well-known early European settler at Ngunguru on the coast east of Whangarei where kauri logs cut in the local forests were brought by river to the coast. He lived out his life in the north. His younger brother Captain John Stewart plied a trade in kauri timber for the booming housing markets of Sydney, Melbourne and the other eastern seaboard cities in the same vessel in which his father Captain Thomas Stewart (Senior) had brought his family from England.3

Captain John Stewart married Merekuia and had four children:
1. John (Hone) Stewart m 1850
2. Thomas Stewart m 1852
3. Francis (Frank/Paraika Tuari) Stewart m 1857-1954
4. William (Bill/Piri Tuari) Stewart m 1865-June 1914

Piri Tuari had seven children by two marriages: 4
1st wife = Moeahi (or Miriama)
1. Aperahama (Abe) Tuari (Stewart) m 1885
2. Pau Te Awa Tuari (Stewart) f 1887
3. Kaa Tuari (Stewart) f 1889
2nd wife = Riripeti Wepu (Webb) d.1913
4. Heni Tuari f 1892
5. Petera Tuari m 1900
6. Matiu Tuari m 1903
7. Piri Tuari m 1907

Kaa Stewart married James Robb and had four children:
1. Mere Hati f.
2. Hemi Robb m.
3. Kaa Robb f. 1908-2003
4. Wiremu Robb m. died without leaving children

Notes:

  1. In legend, the Stewarts were descendants of Banquo of Lochaber who, according to Shakespeare, was killed by Macbeth. Although research has uncovered documentation that helps clarify some of the mysteries, conflicting evidence still abounds on websites such as Ancestry.com. Also see The Isle of Bute in the olden time.
  2. Robert the Bruce was a Stewart through his mother, Marjorie of Carrick, daughter of Margaret Stewart, daughter of Walter Fitz Alan.
  3. Partly sourced from Georgina Tuari Stewart [mokopuna of Paraika Tuari Stewart] in Writing Philosophical Autoethnography (2023) Alec Grant (ed) and personal communication (November 2024).
  4. Maori Land Court minute books (29 May 1951) Opotiki volume 32 pages 273-4 and (9 June 1915) Te Kaha volume 4 pages 273-4.

Clan motto

Virescit vulnere virtus
Courage grows strong at a wound