Alexander Stewart (1699 or 1700 – 2 April 1781) was an Irish landowner who grew rich by inheriting a fortune from Robert Cowan, a former governor of Bombay. His son Robert became the 1st Marquess of Londonderry.
Birth and origins
Alexander was born in 1699[1] or 1700[2] at Ballylawn Castle,[3] near Manorcunningham in County Donegal. He was the second son of William Stewart and his wife. His father had his lands consolidated by Charles I under the name of Stewart's Court,[4] raised a Williamite troop of horse in the run-up to the Siege of Derry[5] and was therefore known as Colonel William Stewart.[6]
Alexander's grandfather is not known by name, but Alexander was a great-grandson of Charles Stewart, whose father John[7][8] was given land at Ballylawn in County Donegal in the plantation of Ulster, built Ballylawn Castle on that land, and held fishing rights in Lough Swilly.[9][10][a] John Stewart is likely to have been a younger son of the Stewarts of Garlies in Galloway, Scotland.[8]
Alexander's mother, whose first name is unknown, was a daughter of William Stewart of Fort Stewart, near Ramelton, County Donegal.[14] The Stewart family background was Scots-Irish and Presbyterian.
He appears below as the younger of two brothers:
Thomas (died 1740), inherited Ballylawn and pursued a military career but died childless in 1740[15]
Alexander (1699–1781)
Family tree
Alexander Stewart with wife and other selected relatives.[b]
Alexander, as a younger son, went into commerce with an apprenticeship at Belfast and became a successful merchant in the Baltic trade.[16] He also became an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Rosemary Street, Belfast.[17] During his residence in Belfast he became a convinced Whig, in line with the general reformist sentiment of the Presbyterian town.[18]
Marriage and children
Alexander Stewart married on 30 June 1737 in Dublin a cousin, Mary Cowan,[19][20] daughter of John Cowan, alderman of Londonderry and his wife Anne Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart of Ballylawn, and sister of the former Governor of Bombay, Robert Cowan, who had died on 21 February 1737 in London.
In 1740, his elder brother Thomas died and Alexander inherited the Ballylawn estate.
Cowan inheritance
He then acquired the rights to Robert Cowan's substantial estate. Being now rich, Stewart retired from business in 1743, and used the money from the Cowan inheritance to become a substantial landowner in County Down by buying estates at Comber and Newtownards in 1744.[28][29]
Mount Stewart
Around 1750, Alexander Stewart rebuilt a house called Mount Pleasant on his estate near Newtownards and renamed it Mount Stewart.[30] In 1780, Stewart commissioned the Temple of the Winds at Mount Stewart from James "Athenian" Stuart. This is an octagonal neo-classical building that was completed by his son Robert after his death.[31]
The Temple of the Winds at Mount Stewart, commissioned by Alexander Stewart
In 1755, he was left the property of William Bruce, a Dublin bookseller from Killyleagh, which he divided between Bruce's relations.[32]
In politics
In 1759, the member of the Parliament of Ireland for the city of Londonderry, William Scott, was raised to the bench. Initially, William Hamilton was elected to succeed him, but the election was declared void. Alexander Stewart was returned in his place in April 1760, but he was also declared not duly elected. Eventually Hamilton represented the constituency from May 1760 until his death later that year.[33]
^There are two townlands called Ballylawn in county Donegal: one in Raymoghie Parish, Raphoe Barony, near Manorcunningham;[11] the other in Moville Upper Parish, Inishowen East Barony.[12] The castle stood in the one near Manorcunningham, but Bew in error placed it near Moville.[13]
^Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.
^Debrett 1828, p. 634, line 31. "Alexander b. [born] 1700, who represented the city of Londonderry in parliament and purchased ..."
^Hyde 1933, p. 9. "Alexander Stewart, Castlereagh's paternal grandfather, was born at Ballylawn in 1700."
^Debrett 1828, p. 634, line 9. "William Stewart, of Ballylawn-castle, County Donegal, esq., who gad a grant from Charles I of the manor of Stewart's Court ..."
^Bew 2012, p. 6, last line. "His son, Colonel William Stewart, had raised a troop of horse during the siege of Londonderry by James II in 1689 ...
^Graham 1841, p. 292. "He raised a troop of horse at his own expense for the defence of Londonderry in 1689."
^Burke 1869, p. 704, left column, line 3. "John Stewart, Esq., of Ballylawn Castle (the first of the family that settled in Ireland), received a grant of land from James I., in the County Donegal and was s. [succeeded] by his eldest son Charles Stewart, Esq., whose great-grandson Alexander of Mount Stewart ..."
^ abJohnston 1906, p. 80. "Alexander Stewart of Ballylawn and Mount Stewart, great-great-grandson of John Stewart of Ballylawn castle said to be a cadet of Garlies ..."
^Hyde 1933, p. 7. "... built a castle on the estate, which he called Stewart's Court and exercised the manorial rights of free fishing in Lough Swilly ..."
^Philips. "It [Ballylawn Castle] was the residence of Lord Londonderry."
^Bew 2012, p. 6, penultimate line. "In fact his [i.e. Castlereagh's] Irish ancestors could be firmly traced back a further three generations to the Plantation of Ireland in the mid-sixteenth century, during which time Alexander's grandfather (known as Alexander Macaulay) obtained a plot of land at Ballylawn, near the town of Moville in County Donegal, in the north-west of Ireland."
^Debrett 1828, p. 634, line 20. "... he [William Stewart] m. [married] the da. [daughter] of William Stewart of Fort Stewart, County Donegal ..."
^Debrett 1828, p. 634, line 26. "Thomas, the eldest, succeeded at Ballylawn Castle and served as captain in Mountjoy's regiment; m. [married] Mary 2nd da. [daughter] of Bernard Ward, esq., (ancestor of the viscounts Bangor) by Mary sister of Michael Ward, bishop of Derry, and d. without issue, 1740, was succeeded by his only brother ..."
^Bew 2012, p. 7, line 4. "As a young man he served an apprenticeship in a trading house in the port of Belfast ..."
^Bew 2012, p. 9, line 13. "Alexander Stewart was also an elder in Belfast's First Presbyterian Church ..."
^Hyde 1933, p. 9, line 27"During his residence in Belfast he became a convinced whig ..."
^ abBew 2012, p. 7, line 10. "The family's financial fortunes were given a significant boost when Alexander married his cousin Mary Cowan on 30 June 1737."
^Debrett 1828, p. 634, line 42. "4. Alexander, b. [born] 26 March 1746, m. [married] 2 Oct. 1791, Mary Moore, 3d da. [daughter] of Charles, marquess of Drogheda (by Anne, eldest da. of Francis Seymour, 1st marquess of Hertford,) and d. [died] Aug. 1831 ..."
^ abBew 2012, p. 7, line 16. "Alexander retired from business and bought into the landed gentry in 1743, with the acquisition of sixty townlands and a large estate in County Down ..."
^Watt. "Her trustees invested, in 1744, a portion of her fortune thought to be in the region of £42000, consisting of East India Company Stock, in 'two extensive manors in County Down, Newtownards and Comber, comprising in all sixty townships, which were for sale and might be expected to yield a satisfactory return on capital investment'."
^Bew 2012, p. 7, line 21. "The family home which was built on the grounds was called Mount Stewart, an adaptation from the locations's former name, Mount Pleasant ..."
^Bew 2012, p. 7, line 29. "... the Temple of the Winds, an octagonal neo-classical building commissioned by Alexander Stewart."
^Benson 2004, p. 336. "He left his property to Alexander Stewart of Newtownards, County Down, the father of the first marquess of Londonderry, for distribution to his relatives."
^House of Commons 1878, p. 659. "William Hamilton, esq., in place of William Scott, Justice of the King's Bench."
^ abDebrett 1828, p. 634. "... [Alexander Stewart] d. [died] 2 April 1781 ..."
^Burke 1869, p. 704, left column, line 40. "He was s. [succeeded] at his decease, in 1781, by his eldest son, the right Hon. Robert Stewart ..."
