Dougal or Dugald Stewart, Lord Blairhall MP (c.1658–1712) was a 17th/18th century Scottish judge, politician, and

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

Life

He was born in

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Wemyss Bay, which also offers an ...

on the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute (; or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent island of the larger County of ...

the son of Sir

Dougal Stewart Dougal or Doogal may refer to: People * Dougal (given name) * DJ Dougal (born 1975), British happy hardcore artist * Jim Dougal (1945–2010), Northern Irish journalist * Jimmy Dougal (1913–1999), Scottish footballer * Margaret Douie Douga ...

MP (d.1670), 2nd baronet of Ardmaleish on Bute, and his wife, Margaret Ruthven, daughter of John Ruthven of

Dunglass Dunglass is a hamlet in East Lothian, Scotland, lying east of the Lammermuir Hills on the North Sea coast, within the parish of Oldhamstocks. It has a 15th-century collegiate church, now in the care of Historic Scotland. Dunglass is the birt ...

. His brother James Stewart was the first

Earl of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...

. His uncle was Robert Stewart, Lord Tillicultrie. The family were Episcopalians and Royalists, and suffered heavily in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. They suffered further in refusing to swear an Oath of Allegiance to

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

in 1693 He studied law at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

from 1687 to 1691 and passed the Scottish bar as an advocate in 1694. From 1702 to 1707 he was MP for Rothesay. He was made a Burgess of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1703 and of Perth in 1710. He was Sheriff Depute of Edinburghshire (

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

) from 1704 to 1709. He inherited the estate of

Blairhall Blairhall is a village in West Fife, Scotland. It is situated 1.1 miles (1.77 km) west of Comrie, and 6.7 miles (10.783 km) west of Dunfermline. History The village was originally a small hamlet. Blairhall was in Culross parish as an ...

Longforgan Longforgan is a village and parish in the Carse of Gowrie, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies west of Dundee on the main A90 road. History A record survives of Sir Patrick Gray, as Baron of Longforgan, holding a baronial court here in 138 ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

around 1705 through the death of his father-in-law. He was strongly opposed to the Act of Union in 1707 and imprisoned in 1708 for allegedly supporting a Jacobite invasion but nevertheless was created the Member of Parliament for

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

later in the same year. He generally opposed the alignment of English and Scottish laws debated after 1707, and fought for the independence of

Scots Law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

. In June 1709 he was elected a

under the title of Lord Blairhall, succeeding his uncle Robert Stewart. He died at Blairhall on 16 June 1712.

Family

In 1700 he married Mary Bruce (d.1759) daughter of John Bruce of Blairhall. They had two sons, James and John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Dugald 1712 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 Senators of the College of Justice People from Rothesay, Bute People associated with Perth and Kinross Scottish sheriffs Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies 17th-century Scottish lawyers British MPs 1707–1708 18th-century Scottish lawyers