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It seems I’m confused too!

The brother of William Steuart was Captain James Stewart. James’s son was James Stewart, Admiral of the Fleet and executor of his uncle’s will.

I’m looking on FindMyPast right now to see if I can find any sources on James.

I just spent some time going over the older posts and I think I might be able to make some connections now. Please point out any and all inaccuracies 

In regards to the Duffin/Lynd connection:
- Maria Duffin (b 1785) was married to Colin Johnstone and then to my Major General James Stuart. Her father was Charles Duffin.
- Charles Duffin died about 1814 in Dublin. I believe he was a linen merchant. He had a brother named William Duffin who was an acquaintance of the famous Ann Lister. He was also something like a head surgeon for the HEIC and then lived in York.

- Grace Lynd nee Bell died in about 1783. She was the wife of Rev Charles Lynd. The abstract of her Will mentions her daughter Jane Duffin and som William Lynd. William was the father of Grace Lynd (my 4th great-grandmother) who married James Stuart and would have been the mother-in-law of Maria Duffin.

I don’t know how it all fits in. I think Jane Lynd might be too old to be Maria Duffin’s mother but could she her her grandmother?


Now back to the Stuarts. I was reading about the Siege of Londonderry and it talks about the Brigadier General Stuarts:
- Brigadier Stuart, colonel of the 5th now 9th regiment of foot was descended from the Stuarts of Blackhall in Scotland. One of his ancestors was a member of the Church of Rome and settled in Ballylusk, Antrim.
- this Brigadier Stuart was implicated during the Troubles of 1641, forfeited his lands in Ireland and fled back to Scotland.
- he eventually joined the Spanish service and fought beside James, Duke of York, at Dunkirk and died there in 1688
- a younger brother of the Brigadier decided to join the opposite side and became a Brigadier General in King William’s army. He had a very successful career but was not repaid by William. He supposedly married a daughter of the Earl of Drogheda and had one son who was a captain in his father’s regiment. This Brig-Gen Stuart purchased land in Leitrim and settled there but also had lands in Cavan and Cork until sold by a Bernard Stewart in 1798 when he (Bernard) went abroad.

I believe this son of the Brigadier General was Henry Stewart who married Jane Irwin and the father of Irwin Stewart. I don’t know if there’s any connection to the Brigadier General Steuarts that have been mentioned previously.

What do you think?

I may have missed this but has anyone looked at the Stewart Will Abstracts at the NAI? See https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSNR-W9GL-M?i=494&cat=225052

Excellent find! Thank you. I have no luck with searching for these records. I don’t know why I’m so limited. I wonder why he didn’t leave anything to his son James. Was it because he was over in India? Very interesting. I wonder if there’s an abstract for Henry Irwin Stuart. He must have left the house to his brother James or let him live there when he retired from the HEIC.

Nice! Thanks so much for sharing. I love seeing these old pictures. I don’t recognize my George in that picture but maybe Betsy is there. By April of 1912 George was living in Stourbridge with my great-grandmother Maggie and their daughter.

I can’t believe how much time has passed since first posting on this thread. I’ve been able to trace grandad George’s biological parents thanks to DNA. He was born Henry Whiting Stuart in Luton, Bedfordshire to a Henry Benson Stuart of the Bengal Army and Sarah Elizabeth Whiting. They weren’t married but they must have lived together as a married couple even though HB Stuart was married to another woman. At some point they were no longer together because Sarah Elizabeth went to France with her daughter in about 1887. I don’t know why George was given to the Dunns though. I know that SE Whiting was a milliner so perhaps she knew Betsy’s cousin, Hannah Maria Pardoe, who was a milliner and dress maker. That’s the only connection I can make out so far. It’s all very interesting.

The two William Steuarts make it kind of tricky to follow, especially since they were both Brigadier-Generals.

From what I can tell, the older Brigadier-General was the son of Colonel William Stewart, son of William Stewart of Mains. BG Stewart had brothers John and James. James had several children and then died; BG Stewart became the guardian.

But then where does Irwin Stewart come in? His father was possibly Henry Stewart but who was Henry’s father? One of BG Stewarts brothers? But then wouldn’t Henry Stewart be mentioned in his Will?