Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Galloway (c. 1580-9 October 1649) was a Scottish courtier and landowner. He was the son of Sir Alexander Stewart, 6th Laird of Garlies (d. 1597) and his 1st wife Christian Douglas, daughter of Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig. The ruins of Garlies Castle are in Dumfries and Galloway. The placename was often spelt "Garleis." His father, who was knighted in 1590 at the coronation of

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

, was awarded the forfeited goods of Cuthbert Broun, a son of John Broun of Carsluith, who was involved in the murder of James MacCulloch of

Barholm Barholm is a village in the civil parish of Barholm and Stowe, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is west from the A15 road, and south from Bourne. In 1921 the parish had a population of 170. Barholm is first recor ...

in 1579. Alexander Stewart, 'a man of great talent, loyalty and integrity' was in the service of

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. In July 1602 Garlies joined a committee of "4 Stewarts" to arbitrate in the feud between the

Marquess of Huntly Marquess of Huntly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing marquessate in Scotland, and the second-oldest in the British Isles; only the English ma ...

and the

Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, or Mormaer of Moray (pronounced "Murry"), was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until ...

. The other Stewarts were

Lord Ochiltree Lord Ochiltree (or Ochiltrie) of Lord Stuart of Ochiltree was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. In 1542 Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale (see the Earl Castle Stewart for earlier history of the family) exchanged the lordship of Avondale with ...

, Walter Stewart of Blantyre, and the Tutor of

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

. One solution offered was the marriage of Moray to Huntly's daughter, and Huntly's son to a daughter of the

Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

. However, in February 1603

proposed an alternative solution, that Huntly's son would marry Moray's sister in a double marriage. Moray's sister, perhaps Margaret Stewart, had recently joined the queen's household. The marriage plans were abandoned at this time, but the scheme suggested by the "4 Stewarts" was eventually adopted. Stewart was created Lord Garlies on 19 July 1607. He was also Sheriff of Galloway. As Sheriff of Galloway, in 1618 Lord Garlies brought a mysterious case to the attention of the

Privy Council of Scotland The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. During its existence, the Privy Council of Scotland was essentially considered as the government of the Kingdom of Scotland, and was seen as the most ...

and the king's advocate Thomas Hamilton. A severed hand was found in the midden or rubbish heap of a notary called John Kennedy, when his servants were carting manure to the field. Then blood was observed on the chandelier in his house, dripped on his table, and appeared on his cellar door, appearing when Kennedy was out. The blood was a "thick liquor like gored blood". When he was walking with the parish minister drops of blood appeared on the grass. Kennedy was arrested and put in the

Tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of th ...

in Edinburgh for five or six weeks, but no information was found against him. He was examined by the Lord President Alexander Seton, who wrote to Sheriff Lord Garlies to discover if there was any unsolved murder to connect with these portents. The severed hand was old and decayed but Kennedy had only recently bought the house. No explanation was found for the blood on the chandelier and elsewhere. Kennedy said his livestock had suffered unusual casualties and his wife had been ill, and he thought he was the victim of witchcraft. The Privy Council after consultation with Garlies, released him. He was made

Earl of Galloway Earl of Galloway is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1623 for Alexander Stewart, 1st Lord Garlies, with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Stewart. He had already been created Lord Garlies in the Peera ...

(Scotland) on 19 September 1623, with a special remainder to his heirs male bearing the name Stewart.Charles Mosley, ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition'', volume 2, p. 1512. He died on 9 October 1649, leaving two sons and a daughter.

Family

He married Grisel Gordon, daughter of Sir John Gordon of

Lochinvar Lochinvar (or Lan Var) is a loch in the civil parish of Dalry in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway Scotland. It is located in the Galloway Hills, around north-east of St. John's Town of Dalry. The loch formerly ...

and Kenmure (d. 1604), and Elizabeth Maxwell, in 1600. Their children included: * James Stewart, who in his father's lifetime had been created a

Baronet of Nova Scotia This is a list of baronetcies in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. These were first created in 1624, and were replaced by the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1707. This page lists baronetcies, whether extant, extinct, dormant (D), unproven (U), ...

. * Alexander Stewart, married in 1627 Anne Howard, a daughter of

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

and Margaret Stewart, a daughter of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Alexander, 1st Earl of Galloway Galloway 16th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1649 deaths 1 Peers of Scotland created by James VI