Sir James Steuart of

Coltness Coltness is the largest suburb of the town of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The 2001 census indicated a population of almost 4,500. Lying to the north east of Wishaw town centre, Coltness is an area of mainly local authority built h ...

(1608 – 31 March 1681) was a Scottish merchant, banker, landowner, politician and

Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...

Early life

Steuart was the second son of Marion Carmichael and James Steuart (1575–1607), of Allanton, Lanarkshire, and was born

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

. Marion was sister of Sir James Carmichael, Justice General of Scotland.

Career

He was a merchant and banker in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, acquired a large fortune, then acquired the estates of Kirkfield (from Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan) and Coldness (from Sir John Hamilton of Edston), both in Lanarkshire, in 1653. He became a burgess of

and guild member in 1631, apparently through his marriage to Thomas Hope's niece.

Public office

Steuart served as

Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

from 1648 to 1652,

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

for

to the

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

from 1649 to 1650, and Lord Provost again in 1659. For a period of time, he was the Collector of Excise and Accountant-General for the Scottish Army. His period of office as Provost included the decision to fortify the harbour of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

and to create a new road between Edinburgh and Leith (later called

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

Scottish Restoration

the Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

(1660) he was dismissed from public roles due to his being a

. After confinement in

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

, Steuart was sent to

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

as a prisoner. He was granted a pardon in 1670.

Personal life

In 1630, he married Anne Hope (d. 1646), daughter of Henry Hope and niece of Sir Thomas Hope of

Craighall Craighall is a suburb of Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest u ...

. Together, they had: *Sir Thomas Steuart, 1st Baronet of Coltness (1631–1698) * Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees (1635–1713) *William Steuart (1640–1700) *

Sir Robert Steuart, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Steuart (or Stewart), 1st Baronet of Allanbank (1643 – 1707) was a Scottish politician who represented North Berwick in the Parliament of Scotland from 1698 to 1702. Early life Steuart was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1643. He was ...

Allanbank Allanbank is a village near Allanton, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the historic county of Berwickshire. Allanbank Chapel was dedicated to St. Mary and was located in a small field named Chapel Haugh. Nearby places include Blac ...

(1643–1707) *Marion Steuart (1645–1706), who married John Maxwell (1648–1732) In 1648, two years after Anne's death, Steuart married Marion McCulloch Elliott (d. 1690), widow of Sir John Elliott, and only daughter and heiress of David McCulloch, of

Goodtrees Moredun is a district in the south-east of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of Liberton, while Craigour is situated just to its north. The estate of Gut-tres or Goodtrees was the family home of James Stewart but it was renamed ...

. Sir James Steuart died on 31 March 1681.

References