Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway

Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway was a Scottish aristocrat.

Early life

Alexander was the eldest son of Lady Catherine Montgomerie and James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway, a Commissioner of the Scottish Treasury and Privy Councillor of Scotland who opposed the Union between England and Scotland. He had three younger brothers, Lt.-Gen. Hon. James Stewart, Capt. Hon. William Stewart, and Hon. George Stewart, who died while a student at Edinburgh University. His sisters included Lady Margaret Stewart and Lady Euphemia Stewart.
His paternal grandparents were Alexander Stewart, 3rd Earl of Galloway and the former Lady Mary Douglas. His maternal grandparents were Alexander Montgomerie, 9th Earl of Eglinton and Lady Margaret Cochrane.

Career

In 1740, the then Lord Garlies, began work on what became Galloway House which adjoined the estate village of Garlieston, on Wigtown Bay. The home was designed by John Douglas, who was assisted by John Baxter as site architect. Around 1750 or during the Napoleonic Wars, a high wall around the garden was constructed by French prisoners of war.
He succeeded to the earldom upon his father's death on 16 February 1745/6. Lord Galloway served as the Scottish Lord of Police from roughly 1743 to 1768, in which role he was responsible for implementing government policy and suppressing disorder during the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 24 August 1756, he succeeded Sir Archibald Stewart, 2nd Baronet, his third cousin once removed as 4th Baronet, of Burray. He served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland from 1757 to 1759 and was Lt.-Gen. and President of the Council of the Royal Archers from 1765 to 1768.

Personal life

In 1719, Stewart married Lady Anne Keith, the youngest daughter of William Keith, 9th Earl Marischal and Lady Mary Drummond. Together, they were the parents of the following children:

Hon. Alexander Stewart, Master of Garlies, who died unmarried at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Hon. James Stewart, who died of smallpox while a student at Dalkeith School.
Hon. John Stewart, who died young.
Lady Mary Stewart, who married Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, eldest son of William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth and is buried at St Mary Abbots Church, Kensington.

Upon the death of Lady Anne in 1728, Stewart, a poet, wrote a set of verses preserved by Sir Alexander Murray of Stanhope and later printed by James Maidment.
In January 1728, he was married to his cousin, Lady Catherine Cochrane, the third and youngest daughter of John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald and Lady Anne Murray. They had nine surviving children:

John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway, who married Lady Charlotte Mary Greville, third daughter of Francis Greville, 1st Earl of Warwick. After her death, he married Anne Dashwood, daughter of Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet.
Hon. George Stewart, a Lieutenant who died at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War.
Vice Admiral the Hon. Keith Stewart of Glasserton, who married Georgina Isabella d'Aguilar, a daughter of Ephraim Lópes Pereira d'Aguilar, 2nd Baron d'Aguilar.
Lady Euphemia Stewart
Lady Catherine Stewart, married her cousin James Murray of Broughton.
Lady Margaret Stewart, married Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne.
Lady Charlotte Stewart, married John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore.
Lady Harriet Stewart, married Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton.
Lady Susanna Stewart, who married Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford.

Lord Galloway died on 24 September 1773 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son who became the 7th Earl of Galloway. His widow died on 15 March 1786.