Earl Castle Stewart
Earl Castle Stewart, in the County Tyrone, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Andrew Thomas Stewart, 9th Baron Castle Stuart. The current holder is Andrew Richard Charles Stuart, 9th Earl Castle Stewart.
History
The Earls Castle Stewart claim to be the head representatives in the pure male line of the Scottish Royal House of Stuart. They are directly descended from Sir Walter Stewart, Keeper of Dumbarton Castle, younger son of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, son of Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, younger son of King Robert II of Scotland. One of Sir Walter's sons, Andrew Stuart, was created Lord Avandale in 1459 and became Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1460 to 1482. Another son, Walter Stewart, became feudal Baron of Morphie and was legitimised in 1479. His grandson Andrew Stewart was created Lord Avondale circa 1499, a revival of the title which had become extinct on his great-uncle's death in 1488. Andrew, Lord Avondale, was one of the many Scottish peers who were killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.The eldest son of Lord Avondale, Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale, exchanged the Lordship of Avondale with Sir James Hamilton for that of Ochiltree by an Act of Parliament in 1542, becoming Lord Stuart of Ochiltree. He was succeeded by his son, Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochiltree. In turn, his son, Andrew Stuart, succeeded him as 3rd Lord Ochiltree and became First Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King James VI. To raise money, in 1615 he resigned the feudal barony of Ochiltree and the peerage to his first cousin, Sir James Stuart, the son of James Stewart, Earl of Arran, younger son of the second Lord Ochiltree.
In compensation for the loss of this title, in 1619 the King created the previous 3rd Lord Ochiltree the Baron Castle Stuart in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1611, he had settled in Ulster where he was granted 3,000 acres of land in County Tyrone. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron, Andrew Stewart, who one year before the death of his father had in 1628 been created a Baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The second Baron made his home at Roughan Castle and was the founder of nearby Stewartstown, County Tyrone. His eldest son, Sir Andrew Stewart 2nd Bt., became the third Baron and Governor of Fort Falkland in County Offaly fighting as a Royalist in the Civil War. He was the father of one daughter, Mary, his sole heiress. She married Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk, and the majority of the Stewart estates in Ireland were swallowed up by him. The title Baron Castle Stuart passed briefly to Sir Andrew's brother, Josias Stewart, who died childless. On the death of the fourth Baron, his uncle the Hon. John Stewart succeeded to the title as the 5th Baron. After John's death, the title was passed to his nephew, Robert Stewart of Irry in County Tyrone, the eldest son of Robert Stewart, of Irry, third son of Andrew Stuart, 1st Baron Castle Stuart. The 6th Baron Castle Stuart was the father of Andrew Stewart, who during the wars of the Revolution was taken to Scotland. At the age of twelve, he became the rightful heir to the title 7th Baron Castle Stuart, but on returning to Ireland in adulthood he did not think it fit to claim the title as the land that had once gone with it was no longer his, having been given as a dowry to the previously mentioned Earl of Suffolk. Instead, the de jure 7th Baron made his home at Irry, which he renamed Stuart Hall, near Stewartstown, County Tyrone. His son, Robert Stewart of Stuart Hall, for the same reasons as his father, chose not to become the 8th Baron Castle Stuart. After remaining dormant for 88 years the title Baron Castle Stuart was reclaimed by Andrew Thomas Stewart of Stuart Hall, the eldest son of the de jure 8th Baron. He successfully petitioned the King and in 1774 became the rightful 9th Baron Castle Stuart. In 1793, he was created 1st Viscount Castle Stuart and in 1800 he was further honoured by being created the 1st Earl Castle Stewart all in the Peerage of Ireland.
Lord Castle Stewart was baptised Andrew Thomas Stewart-Moore. Moore was the maiden name of his paternal great-grandmother, Anne Stewart, daughter of William Moore of Garvey, Garvey House and Fassaroe Castle, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, a first cousin of the 1st Earl of Clanbrassil. He only assumed the surname of Stewart by royal licence in 1775. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. His eldest son, the third Earl, died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Earl. His only son, the fifth Earl, assumed in 1867 by royal licence the additional surname of Richardson. He died without male issue and was succeeded by his first cousin, who became the sixth Earl. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Reverend the Hon. Andrew Godfrey Stuart, fourth son of the second Earl. His two elder sons were both killed in the First World War and he was therefore succeeded by his third son, the seventh Earl, in 1921. He represented Harborough in the House of Commons as a Unionist. He married in December 1920 Eleanor May Guggenheim. They had four sons. His two elder sons were both killed in the Second World War. The titles were held by his third son, the eighth Earl, from 1961 to his death in 2023. As of November 2023, the titles are held by the 8th Earl's son, Andrew Stuart, 9th Earl Castle Stewart.
Another member of the Stuart/Stewart family was Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven. He was a younger son of the first Lord Avondale. The Earldom and Baronetcy of castle Stewart are registered with the Crown Office, and recorded at the College of Arms, London.
The family seat was Stuart Hall, near Stewartstown, County Tyrone.
Digby Stuart College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton, is named also for Janet Erskine Stuart, a granddaughter of a Earl Castle Stewart.
Lords Avondale (c. 1499)
- Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avondale
- Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale
Lords Stuart of Ochiltree (1542)
- Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Ochiltree
- Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochiltree
- Andrew Stewart, 3rd Lord Ochiltree
Barons Castle Stewart (1619)
- Andrew Stuart, 1st Baron Castle Stuart
- Andrew Stewart, 2nd Baron Castle Stuart
- Andrew Stewart, 3rd Baron Castle Stuart
- Josias Stewart, 4th Baron Castle Stuart
- John Stewart, 5th Baron Castle Stuart
- Robert Stewart, 6th Baron Castle Stuart
- Andrew Stewart, de jure 7th Baron Castle Stuart
- Robert Stewart, de jure 8th Baron Castle Stuart
- Andrew Thomas Stewart, 9th Baron Castle Stuart
Earls Castle Stewart (1800)
- Andrew Thomas Stuart, 1st Earl Castle Stewart
- Robert Stewart, 2nd Earl Castle Stewart
- Edward Stewart, 3rd Earl Castle Stewart
- Charles Knox Stewart, 4th Earl Castle Stewart
- Henry James Stuart-Richardson, 5th Earl Castle Stewart
- Andrew John Stuart, 6th Earl Castle Stewart
- Arthur Stuart, 7th Earl Castle Stewart
- Arthur Patrick Avondale Stuart, 8th Earl Castle Stewart
- Andrew Richard Charles Stuart, 9th Earl Castle Stewart
- 35px Andrew Stuart, 1st Earl Castle Stewart
- *35px Robert Stuart, 2nd Earl Castle Stewart
- **Rev. Hon. Andrew Godfrey Stuart
- ***35px Andrew Stuart, 6th Earl Castle Stewart
- ****35px Arthur Stuart, 7th Earl Castle Stewart
- *****35px Arthur Stuart, 8th Earl Castle Stewart
- ******35px Andrew Richard Charles, 9th Earl Castle Stewart
- *****Hon. Simon Walter Erskine Stuart
- ******' Thomas Harry Erskine Stuart
- ******' Corin Edward Leveson Stuart
- ******' Tristram James Avondale Stuart
- *Hon. Andrew Godfrey Stuart
- **Andrew Thomas Stuart
- ***Robert Walter Stuart
- ****Walter Burleigh Stuart
- *****Burleigh Athol Stuart
- ******' Ernest Martin Stuart
- *******' Conway Athol Stuart
- **Burleigh William Henry Fitzgibbon Stuart
- ***Godfrey Richard Conyngham Stuart
- ****Robin Charles Burleigh Stuart
- *****' Douglas Charles Burleigh Stuart
- ******' Andrew John Burleigh Stuart
- *******' James William Burleigh Stuart
- ***Burleigh Francis Brownlow Stuart
- ****Burleigh Edward St. Lawrence Stuart
- *****' Edward John Burleigh Stuart
- ******' Simon Francis Brownlow Stuart
- ****** Henry George Burleigh Stuart