Major General Robert Walter Stuart, 11th Lord Blantyre, (10 June 1777,

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 ...

– 22 September 1830,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served throughout the French Revolutionary and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire The Lord-Lieutenant of Renfrewshire is the representative of the British Crown covering a lieutenancy area of the county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The Lord Lieutenant deals with many of the ceremonial functions as ...

between 1820 and 1822, and was appointed a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

between 1806 and 1807.

Biography

Early life

Robert Walter Stuart was born in

in 1777, the son of Alexander Stuart, 10th Lord Blantyre and his wife the former Catharine Lindsay. His brothers were Gen. the Hon. Sir Patrick Stuart (twin), and Lt.-Gen. the Hon. William Stuart, both of whom also achieved success in the British Army. He succeeded his father as 11th Lord Blantyre, in the

Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland (; ) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union 1707, Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the ...

, in 1783, aged 6. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. In 1795, Lord Blantyre was commissioned as ensign in the

3rd Regiment of Foot Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

(Scots Guards).

Military career

Blantyre fought with his regiment during the campaign in Holland in 1799. Transferred to the

31st Regiment of Foot The 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot to form the East Surrey Regiment in 1881. History Origins ...

, he was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He later transferred again, this time to the

7th Dragoons The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...

. He fought in the

Egyptian campaign The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a ...

led by Lt.-Gen.

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank of lieutenant general in the British ...

. He fought in the

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

and Zealand campaign of 1807. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the

42nd Regiment of Foot The 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot was a Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army also known as the Black Watch. Originally titled Crawford's Highlanders or the Highland Regiment (mustered 1739) and numbered 43rd in the line, in 17 ...

. He was aide-de-camp to Lt.-Gen. Sir Charles Stuart. Blantyre fought during the

Peninsular war The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

under the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

, and was noted for his bravery during the campaign. His records of that campaign are held in the National Archives. He was appointed a Companion,

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1815, and was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1819.

Death

Lord Blantyre was killed at

on 22 September 1830 by a Belgian insurrectionist. He was shot by a musket ball when looking from the window of his hotel during the commotions at Brussels which comprised the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

. His death was deemed an accidental shooting. His will was proven by probate in January 1832, which bequeathed the Blantyre estates to his eldest son and successor,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Family

Lord Blantyre married Frances Mary ('Fanny') Rodney (1791–1875), on 20 February 1813 at Edinburgh. She was the daughter of Capt. the Hon.

John Rodney Raymond John Flynn (March 7, 1914 – January 1, 1996), known professionally as John Rodney, was an American actor, who worked in film and television. He also used the name John Flynn. Career Theatrical films Rodney was born in Brooklyn, New ...

and Lady Catherine Nugent, and a granddaughter of Admiral

George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a Royal Navy officer, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularl ...

. They had eleven children, of whom only seven survived infancy: * Hon. Alexander Stuart, Master of Blantyre (1814–1814), died in infancy * Hon. Catherine Stuart (1815–1872), married William Rashleigh, MP for East Cornwall * Hon. Frances Mary Stuart (1816–1896) * Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre (1818–1900), who succeeded, and married Lady Evelyn Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland * Hon. Georgiana Elizabeth Stuart (1821–1904), married

Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet, GCB, PC, DL (7 May 1807 – 12 November 1882) was a British diplomat. Family Buchanan was the only son of James Buchanan of Blairvadach, Ardinconnal, Dumbartonshire, and Janet, the eldest daughter of Jame ...

, without issue * Hon. Sir William Stuart (1824–1896), diplomat * Hon. Caroline Henrietta Stuart (1825–1825), died in infancy * Hon. Walter Rodney Stuart (1826–1838), died in infancy * Lt.-Col. Hon. James Stuart (1827–1870), military officer * Hon. Henry Stuart (1830–1842), twin, died in infancy * Hon. Caroline Stuart (1830–1911), twin, married

John Ogilvy-Grant, 7th Earl of Seafield John Charles Ogilvie-Grant, 7th Earl of Seafield, (4 September 1815 – 18 February 1881), styled Viscount Reidhaven from 1840 to 1853, was a Scottish nobleman. He is numbered as the 26th Chief of Clan Grant. Biography Early life and family ...

, and was the mother of the 8th Earl of Seafield

References