He was a son of William Stewart or Steuart of Grandtully (died 1574) and Isobella Stewart, a daughter of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Atholl.[1]
It is said that he was brought and educated with James VI at Stirling Castle. A royal charter of 1602 reflects this, noting that he was in the king's service "since his coronation". Stewart was described as a "page of honour" at court in 1585.[2]
The chronicle attributed to David Moysie says that this man (described as the Laird of Grandtully, nephew of the Earl of Atholl) and his kinship friends, declared to James VI in 1579 that John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl had been poisoned at a banquet at a Stirling Castle.[3]
He had an older brother, Thomas Stewart, who became Laird of Grandtully.[4] William became Laird of Banchrie. Before his death in 1611, Thomas feued the lands of Grandtully to William, who was then known as the "feuar of Grandtully".[5]
William Stewart became a gentleman of the king's bedchamber in May 1594. He helped save the king from the Gowrie Conspiracy at Perth on 5 August 1600 and James VI rewarded him with the forfeited Ruthven castle of Trochrie near Little Dunkeld and the barony of Strathbran.[6] A privy seal letter of November 1600 describes him as a "daily servitor" of the king.[7] He is said to have made additions to Trochrie Castle which featured his initials and heraldry.[8]
He does not seem to have resided at court in London after the Union of the Crowns.
He married Agnes Moncreiff. Her monogram and heraldry appears in the chapel at Grandtully.[11] Their children included:
Thomas Stewart of Grandtully (1608-1688), who married Grizel Menzies. Their daughter Grissel Stuart married John Drummond of Logiealmond.[12]
Henry Stewart
William Stewart
Other contemporaries called William Stewart
It is not clear if this William Stewart was same man as the valet of James VI who accompanied him to Denmark in 1589 and acted as his pursemaster, whose career is described here: William Stewart (courtier).[13]
There were several men called William Stewart active at Scottish court in this period, including:
William Stewart of Houston, a soldier and diplomat, known as Colonel Stewart, who also attended James VI in Denmark.[14]
^'A Brief Account of the Life of John Earle of Perth', Spalding Club Miscellany, 2 (Edinburgh, 1842), p. 209.
^Amy Juhala, 'For the King Favours Them Very Strangely', in Miles Kerr-Peterson and Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power (Routledge: Abingdon, 2017), p. 174: Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), pp. 41-3.
^David Stevenson, Scotland's Last Royal Wedding (Edinburgh, 1997), p. 121.
^Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 196-7.
^Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020) p. 50.
^William Boyd, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, 1581-1583 (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 347 no. 368.
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