James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie (23 September 1784 – 24 September 1843) was a Scottish politician and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial administrator.

Early life

He was born James Alexander Stewart on 23 September 1784. James was the son of the former Georgina Isabella d'Aguilar and Vice Admiral The Hon.

Keith Stewart Vice-Admiral Keith Stewart (1739 – 3 March 1795) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons on two occasions. Having began his naval career in around 1753, Stewart was promoted to commander in 1761 an ...

, who died when he was eleven. His younger brother was Lt. Leveson Douglas Stewart (the father of

John Stewart of Nateby Hall John Stewart of Nateby Hall FRSE FGS (10 January 1813 – 17 March 1867) was a British naturalist. Early life Stewart was born at Parkhouse in Stranraer on 10 January 1813. He was the eldest surviving son of Elizabeth Dalrymple-Hay and Lt. Levens ...

). Following his father's death, his mother married secondly, in 1797, Lt.-Col. Richard Fitzgerald, who was killed in action at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. His paternal grandparents were

Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway ( – 24 September 1773) was a Scottish aristocrat. Early life Alexander was the eldest son of Lady Catherine Montgomerie and James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway, a Commissioner of the Scottish Treasury an ...

and the former Lady Catherine Cochrane (the youngest daughter of

John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald (4 July 1687 – 5 June 1720), was a Scottish aristocrat and politician. Early life Cochrane was born on 4 July 1687. He was the second son of John Cochrane, 2nd Earl of Dundonald and Lady Susan Hamilton. His e ...

). His maternal grandfather was

Ephraim Lópes Pereira d'Aguilar, 2nd Baron d'Aguilar Ephraim Lópes Pereira d'Aguilar (1739 in Vienna – 1802 in London) was the second Baron d'Aguilar, a Barony of the Holy Roman Empire. Early life He was a son of Donna Simha da Fonseca, who died 1755, and Baron Diego Pereira d'Aguilar, a ...

Career

Stewart-Mackenzie was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

in 1831. When that constituency was abolished in 1832, he was elected for the new

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

, serving until 1837. He left the House of Commons to become

British governor of Ceylon The governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was the ...

from March 1837 to 1840, and then

Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands The Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands was the local representative of the British government in the United States of the Ionian Islands between 1816 and 1864, succeeding the earlier office of the Civil Commissioner of the Ionian Island ...

(based in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

) from December 1840 to 1843.

Personal life

After his marriage on 21 May 1817 to

Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie (27 March 1783 – 28 November 1862) was the eldest daughter and heiress of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth. Also known as "Lady Hood Mackenzie", or by the sobriquet "The Hooded Lassie", she was married i ...

("the Hooded Lassie"), widow of Vice Admiral

Sir Samuel Hood Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , he drove a French ship ashore i ...

and daughter of

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth Lieutenant-General Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, (9 June 1754 – 11 January 1815) was a British politician, soldier, and botanist. He was Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie, as which he raised the renowned 78th (Highla ...

(whose title had become extinct when his four sons all predeceased him), he assumed the additional surname of Mackenzie. Mary's younger sister, Helen Anne Mackenzie, was the wife of

Joshua Henry Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie The Hon. Joshua Henry Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie (1774 – 1871) was a 19th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. Early life He was born in 1774 the eldest son of the Edinburgh author Henry Mackenzie and his ...

. In 1819, Stewart-Mackenzie sold the house and grounds of

Woodfall Gardens Woodfall may refer to: People * Henry Sampson Woodfall (1739–1805), English printer and journalist ** His brother William Woodfall (1746–1803), English printer and publisher ** His son George Woodfall (1767–1844), English printer * George's s ...

Glasserton Glasserton is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is on the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is about in length, varying in breadth from , and contains . The Parish It is thou ...

to Stair Hathorn-Stewart at the neighboring Physgill estate. Together, James and Mary were the parents of: * Keith William Stewart-MacKenzie (1818–1881), who married Hannah Charlotte Hope-Vere, a daughter of

James Joseph Hope-Vere James Joseph Hope-Vere of Craigiehall MP FRSE (1785–1843) was a 19th-century Scottish landowner and politician. As a politician he was deemed a moderate Whig. Life He was born on 3 June 1785 the first surviving son of William Hope-Vere (1 ...

and Lady Elizabeth Hay (a daughter

George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale DL (1753 – 9 August 1804) was a Scottish peer. Early life Hay was born at Newhall in East Lothian, Scotland. He was the son of John Hay (d. 1765) and Dorothy ( Hayhurst) Hay (d. 1808). His siblings ...

). After her death in 1868, he married Alicia Almira Seymour Bell, daughter of Robert Henry Bell of Bellbrook, in 1871. * Mary Frances Stewart-Mackenzie (1819–1913), who married Philip Anstruther, son of Col. Robert Anstruther, in 1838. * Caroline Susan Stewart-Mackenzie (1822–1867), who married John Berney Petre, son of Jack Petre and Hon. Catherine Harbord (daughter of

Harbord Harbord, 1st Baron Suffield Harbord Harbord, 1st Baron Suffield (26 January 1734 – 4 February 1810), known as Sir Harbord Harbord, Bt, between 1770 and 1786, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1784 when he was raised to th ...

), in 1844. * George Augustus Frederick Wellington Stewart-Mackenzie (1824–1852), who married Maria Louisa Marriott, daughter of Lt.-Gen. Thomas Marriott, in 1850. *

Louisa Caroline Stewart-Mackenzie Louisa Caroline Baring, Lady Ashburton (; 5 March 1827 – 2 February 1903), was a Scottish art collector and philanthropist who had close connections with several artistic and literary figures of the period. Early life Louisa Caroline Stewart ...

(1827–1903), who married

Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, (June 1799 – 23 March 1864) was a British businessman and a Whig politician who later became a Tory. Background and education William Bingham Baring was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June ...

. Stewart-Mackenzie died on 24 September 1843. His widow died on 28 November 1862 and was buried at Fortrose.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Keith, he was a grandfather of James Alexander Francis Humberston Mackenzie, who was created

Baron Seaforth Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

in 1921, and of Mary Jeune, Baroness St Helier, society hostess and politician. Through his daughter Louisa, he was a grandfather of Hon. Mary Florence Baring (1860–1902), married

William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton William George Spencer Scott Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton, KG (23 April 1851 – 15 June 1913), known as Lord William Compton from 1877 to 1887 and as Earl Compton from 1887 to 1897, was a British peer and Liberal politician. Early li ...

, becoming the Marchioness of Northampton.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, James Alexander 1784 births 1843 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 Governors of British Ceylon Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish colonial officials Politics of Highland (council area) Ross and Cromarty