Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal

Who was Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal?

Duncan Stewart was 10th Chief of the Clan Stewart of Appin and 6th of Ardsheal, and a friend of James Boswell. He was the eldest surviving son of Charles Stewart, 5th of Ardsheal, the Jacobite leader of the Clan at the Battle of Culloden, 16 April 1746, during the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and Isabel Haldane of Lanrick daughter of John Haldane 2nd of Lanrick.

Stewart was born at Ardsheal from where his father Charles Stewart had fled to France, dying at Sens, 15 March, 1757, having escaped from Scotland in 1746. After the battle of Culloden he was sentenced to death in absentia and all his estates had been confiscated by the government.

Duncan Stewart became collector of customs in New London, Connecticut and later in Bermuda. During the American War of Independence Stewart supported the government against the rebels and was rewarded for his loyalty by having the estates in Ardsheal, Scotland returned to him in 1769 that had been confiscated from his father.

Stewart is remembered best for his portrait by John Singleton Copley held by the National Gallery of Scotland and for his friendship and travels with James Boswell. Stewart settled back in Scotland on his returned estates where he inherited the chieftainship of the Clan of Appin on the death of his cousin, Dugald Stewart, 9th of Appin