Sir John Stuart, 4th Baronet (c. 1752 – 4 December 1821) was a Scottish MP in the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

. His surname was Wishart-Belsches until Oct 1797. He was MP for

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and w ...

between 1797–1806 and 1802-06 as Sir John Stuart.

Biography

He was the only son of William Belsches, Esq., (by his wife and cousin Emilia, only surviving child of John Belsches, of Invermay, by his wife Mary Stuart (died 1807), 2nd daughter of Sir George Wishart, 1st Baronet, so created 17 June 1706, with remainder to the heirs of his body). Stuart assumed the Wishart Baronetcy in 1777 in dubious circumstances on the death of his great-uncle,

Sir William Stuart, 2nd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

after taking legal advice, although it was not disputed in his lifetime. He also assumed the surname of Stuart in lieu of Wishart-Belsches by Royal licence in October 1797. Now it is accepted that women can be baronets his mother is today considered to have rightfully been the 3rd Baronet even though her son was already using the title. He was elected M.P. for Kincardineshire as above and became a

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

in Scotland from 1807 until his death. He married, on 9 November 1775, Lady Jane Leslie, the eldest daughter of

David Melville, 6th Earl of Leven David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. She died on 28 October 1829. They had a daughter, Williamina Stuart (died 5 December 1810; married Sir William Forbes, 7th Baronet). On his death with no heir the Wishart baronetcy of Clifton Hall, Edinburgh became dormant.

References

External links

* Year of birth uncertain 1821 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1801–1802 Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia {{Scotland-UK-MP-stub