James Stewart (1763-4 August 1828) was a Jamaican-born politician and military officer. He was elected to the

House of Assembly of Jamaica The House of Assembly was the legislature of the British colony of Jamaica. It held its first meeting on 20 January 1664 at Spanish Town. Cundall, Frank. (1915''Historic Jamaica''.London: Institute of Jamaica. p. 15. As a result of the Morant Ba ...

in 1820 for the parish of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

.''Votes of the Honourable House of Assembly of Jamaica, in a Session Begun October 31, 1820, and ended January 8, 1821.''
Alexander Aikman, Jamaica, 1821. p. 3.

Family life

He inherited Stewart Castle in

Trelawney Parish Trelawny (Jamaican Patois: ''Trilaani'' or ''Chrilaani'') is a parish in the county of Cornwall in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Eliza ...

, Jamaica from his father, known locally as James Stewart I. He was the grandfather of Stewart Campbell the Canadian politician. He is buried in the graveyard of Falmouth Parish Church of St. Peter.

Political career

Stewart was the

Custos {{Wiktionary, custos ''Custos'' is the Latin word for guard. Titles * Custos rotulorum ("keeper of the rolls"), a civic post in parts of the United Kingdom and in Jamaica * Custos (Franciscans), a religious superior or official in the Fran ...

for Trelawney Parish 1800-1821. In this capacity he was one of the Commissioners who established

Stewart Town Stewart Town is a historic town that was established in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica in 1812. It was named after James Stewart, the Custos {{Wiktionary, custos ''Custos'' is the Latin word for guard. Titles * Custos rotulorum ("keeper of the rolls" ...

, near the border of Trelawney Parish with Saint Ann Parish. He was also a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the

Jamaica Militia Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

in which capacity he played a prominent role in the

Second Maroon War The Second Maroon War of 1795–1796 was an eight-month conflict between the Maroons of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town), a Maroon settlement later re-named after Governor Edward Trelawny at the end of First Maroon War, located near Trelawny Par ...

(1795-6) leading the third column of the Trelawney militia.

Author?

Views differ as to whether Stewart was in fact the author of ''A Brief account of the Present State of the Negroes in Jamaica'' written under the name of James Stewart and published in Bath in 1792.

References

External links

Members of the House of Assembly of Jamaica 1763 births 1828 deaths Jamaican slave owners Colony of Jamaica people {{Jamaica-bio-stub