Early Life
William Stewart was, according to
The Scots Peerage1, the second son of
Sir Alexander Stewart of Darnley (who was, in turn, the grandson of
Sir John Stewart de Bonkyll). There was apparently some disagreement on William's heritage, as described here in
The Scots Peerage:
The affiliation of Sir William, the second son of Sir Alexander [Stewart], has been disputed by some genealogists, and the question is more than usually important, as on it depends the title of heir-male of the house of Stewart. On this account Andrew Stuart of Torrance (one of the historians of the Stewarts), a rival candidate for the honour, sought to impose on the Stewarts of Garlies an entirely different origin, ascribing their male ancestry to a John le Seneschal of Jedworth, whose name occurs among the signatories to the Ragman Roll in 1296, and who, from inability to identify him otherwise, has been assumed by most genealogists to be identical with Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl already named. But 'John le Seneschal of Jedworth' was not a knight, which Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl unquestionably was, being so designated in the Roll, while the Seneschal of Jedworth is not. John le Seneschal of Jedworth signs the Roll amidst a mixed multitude from the county of Roxburgh, while Sir John Stewart's name occupies the second place, immediately after that of his brother the High Stewart himself. In the Roll John le Seneschal shares the designation 'of Jedworth' with Guy le Olerk of Jedworth, Richard Fossart of Jedworth, and Henry Braceor of Jedworth, while Sir John Stewart's only title is 'brother of Sir James the Stewart.' In fact, the whole designation points to an office (of which there are numerous instances in the Roll), not to a surname, since the patronymic Stewart is always latinised in the Roll as Senescal or Senescalli never Seneschal and the substitution of 'of' for the territorial 'de' in this case still further emphasises the point.
William's mother was from the Turnbull family, sister of Sir John Turnbull of Minto, but we don't have her name.
Career & Family Life
The Scots Peerage:
Sir William Stewart, the first offshoot from the house of Darnley, was one of the most prominent Scotsmen of his own or any other day. He figures in the national records as soldier, statesman, administrator, and a loyal and faithful servant to King and country, from 1385 to 1402. He aided James, Earl of Douglas, to expel the English finally from Teviotdale and the Borders, was one of the Scottish leaders subsidised from France in 1385, and is named by Froissart, the French historian, as one of Douglas's captains at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. He bore the coveted distinction of Knight Banneret, a dignity then only conferred for signal bravery under the Royal Standard displayed in battle. Among the civil offices and appointments held by this famous knight were Clerk of the Audit for the King from 1390 to 1402, Sheriff of Teviotdale (and probably also
of ' Foresta ' or Tweeddale), Ambassador to England, Scots Commissioner for a truce, and Conservator of the Peace on the Borders. He was also a member of both the General and Special Councils of the kingdom, and one of the 'wyse men and leal' appointed to act as the executive, or cabinet, during the Regency of David, Duke of Rothesay.
For his great services he was rewarded by the King, who styles him 'dilectus et fldelis,' with a grant of the lands of Synlaws and Merbottil (Roxburghshire) on 2 July 1385, and part of the lands of Minto 8 November 1392. He also received various hereditary pensions between 1390 and 1398, one, on 27 March 1392, bearing to be to 'our dear and faithful Sir William Stewart of Jedworth, Knight, for special service and retinue to us and to David Stewart our heir.' From Archibald, Earl of Douglas, he got the lands and Castle of Abercorn in Linlithgowshire on 28 October 1398, while on 4 January 1390-91 he had confirmation of a charter in which his uncle, Sir John Turnbull of Minto 'out wyth swerd,' made him a grant of his lands of Minto. In that charter he is styled Sir William Stewart of Jedworth, Knight, and 'nepos' (or nephew) of the granter. He appears on record usually under the simple designation of #Sir William Stewart,' being then apparently too well known to require any more definite description, and is the first of the race to figure in the national records under the now familiar name of Stewart, instead of the old Latin Senescalli or Senescal. At other times the titles 'de Jedworth,' 'de Tevidale,' and 'de Foresta' are given him. The first was no doubt derived from the lands of Jedworth, part of the Douglas patrimony, on which Sir William Stewart seems to have been stationed by his friend the Earl of Douglas as an outpost to guard against the raids of the Percies who pretended a right to these and other Douglas lands on the Borders, in virtue of grants from the English sovereigns. The title 'de Tevidale' evidently originated in his office of Sheriff, but that of 'Foresta' is more obscure. It has been supposed to be the Forest of Jedworth, but is undoubtedly identical with Selkirkshire, which even to the present day is known as Foresta or 'the Forest.' He was one of the Scottish notables captured at Homildon Hill in 1402, and, though thus a prisoner of war, was barbarously put to death by Hotspur Percy to gratify a private grudge, and his mangled limbs were thereafter exposed on the gates of York and other English towns.
His virtues are summed up by the writer of the Scotichronicon in the noble epitaph, 'Valens miles et inter sapientes primus.'. The name of Sir William Stewart's wife has not been preserved, but after his death she married Sir Walter de Bickerton, and survived till 1420 at least, in which year she drew her 'terce' of Sir William's hereditary pensions.
Regarding his wife,
The Scots Peerage (in the separate chapter on the Dukes of Lennox
2 also says:
It is not certainly known who his wife was, but her Christian name was apparently Isabel. This appears from a Commission, on 13 November 1400, by
King Henry IV, to inquire into the report that William, Stewart of Scotland, Knight, and Isabel, his wife, sometime the wife of
Richard Olyver, 'chivaler,' and Robert, Richard's son, have for no small time been adherents of the Scots, whereby all their lands and goods are forfeited, etc. This writ may explain the cause which brought about Sir William's tragic fate after Homildon Hill.
Death
As described above,
William Stewart was murdered by '
Hotspur Percy' after the battle of Homildon Hill in 1402.
Footnotes
[1] The Scots Peerage, by Sir James Balfour Paul, Volume 4, Edinburgh (1907), p146-149
[2] The Scots Peerage, by Sir James Balfour Paul, Volume 5, Edinburgh (1908), p346
