Earldom of Castle Stewart
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JonnyK
Jul 17, 2009, 5:42:47 PM7/17/09
to Peerage News
Following from my digging around on Irish peers' acreages, the Castle
Stewart Earldom seems fascinating.
A New York Times death notice of 1914, for the 5th Earl Castle
Stewart, describes him primarily as the "male representative of the
royal House of Stuart" (there is indeed a lineage from Robert II of
Scotland which I will not go into here) before noting he died leaving
an estate comprising a hefty 36,000 acres and a collection of Old
Masters including two Van Dycks and a Titian. This was well over a
decade after the Wyndham Act tempted hundreds of Irish landowners to
sell off most of their estates to tenants, so what might have happened
to these thousands of acres since 1914?
It may be reasonable to assume that many of these acres have remained
intact, along with the Old Masters, because the 5th Earl died without
a son and was succeeded by a cousin, Andrew, the 6th Earl, whose third
son, also called Andrew, was married to Eleanor Guggenheim (d.1992),
elder daughter of Solomon Guggenheim.
This new line of the family suffered horribly in the two world wars;
the sixth Earl's two elder sons were killed in France, while their
youngest brother who became the 7th Earl also lost his two elder sons,
the eldest David, aged 20, in North Africa and Robert, aged 21, in
Italy. According to John H. Davis' book 'The Guggenheims', Eleanor's
husband Andrew endured chronic arthritis in the neck for many years
and following a nervous breakdown he committed suicide in 1961.
Their third son Arthur (b. 1928) succeeded as the 8th and present Earl
and had a typical education for his background. He went to Eton and
became a lieutenant in the Scots Guards in 1949, after which he
graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1950. A Fellow of the
Institute of Management since 1978 and brought in as a partner at
Guggenheim Brothers in the 1980s, the Earl is described as a “pioneer
of ethical banking and social ecology, and co-founder of Bristol
Steiner School” in a pamphlet from Michael Hall Steiner School in
Forest Row, East Sussex. He also appears to be patron of Holywood
Steiner School in Co Down.
Today, in his retirement, he is described in the book as a "gentleman
farmer in Somerset" (this land has come from the Guggenheim
connection, and he is a trustee of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection).
From his first marriage he has two children, Andrew, styled Viscount
Stuart (b. 1953) and Lady Bridget (b. 1957).
The Earl married for a second time in November 2004 at Belfast City
Hall, to Gillian Savill (b. 1938), an event I recall well through
noticing a photograph of the happy couple in 'Ulster Tatler', a local
glossy magazine in Northern Ireland. My curiosity was piqued because
while I was aware of this particular Earldom it has been an extremely
"low-key" peerage, I cannot point to any "famous" Castle Stewarts in
the sense that we can refer to certain Marlboroughs, Leinsters or
Londonderrys, for example. My interest was further piqued when I saw
that his first wife had died just over a year before in July 2003. A
whirlwind romance it would seem!
Viscount Stuart is married and has a daughter, who was born in 1976,
so it seems likely that the Earldom will pass after him to his
brother's family.
Andrew and Eleanor's youngest son Simon was assistant master at King's
School, Canterbury from 1963 to 1978. He later taught at Haberdashers
Aske and in retirement was a writer on educational psychology. Married
with three sons, all now in their early 30s, he died in 2002.
As for the family's ancestral seat in Ireland, Stuart Hall in County
Tyrone, it seems impossible to find anything about it. No pictures, no
website, no nothing. I do know off-hand however that the original hall
was burnt down during the war of independence in the early 1920s when
many Irish country houses were burned. I understand a more modest
house was built afterwards.
Also noteworthy is that the 3rd Earl (1807-1857), who was married to a
granddaughter of the Bishop of Norwich, was a convert to Catholicism,
under the guidance of his friend Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps De
Lisle, a very interesting individual who deserves an article all to
himself.
He had no children and was succeeded by his brother the 4th Earl
(1810-1874), whose wife, Charlotte Raffles Drury Thompson (1807-1907)
was a niece of Sir Stamford Raffles, of Singapore fame. [Benjamin
Raffles, 1739-1812, his daughter Mary Ann Raffles, second husband was
Quintin Dick Thompson, their second daughter was married to the 4th
Earl]
He was succeeded by his only son, the aforementioned 5th Earl
(1837-1914), who was the youngest of the family with four older
sisters and was in turn succeeded by his cousin, the 6th Earl
(1841-1921), who was the eldest son of the Rev. Andrew Stuart
(1812-1889, third son of the 2nd Earl) and his first wife the Hon.
Catherine Wingfield, daughter of the 5th Viscount Powerscourt.
Finally, I should mention the obvious lack of consistency with the
spelling of this title. The original surname seems to have been
Stewart and the baronetcy (NS, 1628) and the earldom (Ireland, 1800)
have this spelling, while the two earlier peerages, the barony
(Ireland, 1619) and the viscountcy (Ireland, 1794) have the spelling
Stuart. The family seat is Stuart Hall, which is near the town of
Stewartstown, County Tyrone. Why there should be a difference in the
spelling throughout the generations is unclear, but it should be noted
that the 5th Earl, who was born Henry James Stewart, subsequently
changed his surname to Stuart-Richardson after his marriage (in
deference to his heiress wife). His younger brother was the
aforementioned Rev. Andrew Stuart, who appears to be the first member
of the family to adopt this spelling of the name, which persists
today, although perhaps some members can check their Burkes or
Debretts to double check.
Stewart Earldom seems fascinating.
A New York Times death notice of 1914, for the 5th Earl Castle
Stewart, describes him primarily as the "male representative of the
royal House of Stuart" (there is indeed a lineage from Robert II of
Scotland which I will not go into here) before noting he died leaving
an estate comprising a hefty 36,000 acres and a collection of Old
Masters including two Van Dycks and a Titian. This was well over a
decade after the Wyndham Act tempted hundreds of Irish landowners to
sell off most of their estates to tenants, so what might have happened
to these thousands of acres since 1914?
It may be reasonable to assume that many of these acres have remained
intact, along with the Old Masters, because the 5th Earl died without
a son and was succeeded by a cousin, Andrew, the 6th Earl, whose third
son, also called Andrew, was married to Eleanor Guggenheim (d.1992),
elder daughter of Solomon Guggenheim.
This new line of the family suffered horribly in the two world wars;
the sixth Earl's two elder sons were killed in France, while their
youngest brother who became the 7th Earl also lost his two elder sons,
the eldest David, aged 20, in North Africa and Robert, aged 21, in
Italy. According to John H. Davis' book 'The Guggenheims', Eleanor's
husband Andrew endured chronic arthritis in the neck for many years
and following a nervous breakdown he committed suicide in 1961.
Their third son Arthur (b. 1928) succeeded as the 8th and present Earl
and had a typical education for his background. He went to Eton and
became a lieutenant in the Scots Guards in 1949, after which he
graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1950. A Fellow of the
Institute of Management since 1978 and brought in as a partner at
Guggenheim Brothers in the 1980s, the Earl is described as a “pioneer
of ethical banking and social ecology, and co-founder of Bristol
Steiner School” in a pamphlet from Michael Hall Steiner School in
Forest Row, East Sussex. He also appears to be patron of Holywood
Steiner School in Co Down.
Today, in his retirement, he is described in the book as a "gentleman
farmer in Somerset" (this land has come from the Guggenheim
connection, and he is a trustee of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection).
From his first marriage he has two children, Andrew, styled Viscount
Stuart (b. 1953) and Lady Bridget (b. 1957).
The Earl married for a second time in November 2004 at Belfast City
Hall, to Gillian Savill (b. 1938), an event I recall well through
noticing a photograph of the happy couple in 'Ulster Tatler', a local
glossy magazine in Northern Ireland. My curiosity was piqued because
while I was aware of this particular Earldom it has been an extremely
"low-key" peerage, I cannot point to any "famous" Castle Stewarts in
the sense that we can refer to certain Marlboroughs, Leinsters or
Londonderrys, for example. My interest was further piqued when I saw
that his first wife had died just over a year before in July 2003. A
whirlwind romance it would seem!
Viscount Stuart is married and has a daughter, who was born in 1976,
so it seems likely that the Earldom will pass after him to his
brother's family.
Andrew and Eleanor's youngest son Simon was assistant master at King's
School, Canterbury from 1963 to 1978. He later taught at Haberdashers
Aske and in retirement was a writer on educational psychology. Married
with three sons, all now in their early 30s, he died in 2002.
As for the family's ancestral seat in Ireland, Stuart Hall in County
Tyrone, it seems impossible to find anything about it. No pictures, no
website, no nothing. I do know off-hand however that the original hall
was burnt down during the war of independence in the early 1920s when
many Irish country houses were burned. I understand a more modest
house was built afterwards.
Also noteworthy is that the 3rd Earl (1807-1857), who was married to a
granddaughter of the Bishop of Norwich, was a convert to Catholicism,
under the guidance of his friend Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps De
Lisle, a very interesting individual who deserves an article all to
himself.
He had no children and was succeeded by his brother the 4th Earl
(1810-1874), whose wife, Charlotte Raffles Drury Thompson (1807-1907)
was a niece of Sir Stamford Raffles, of Singapore fame. [Benjamin
Raffles, 1739-1812, his daughter Mary Ann Raffles, second husband was
Quintin Dick Thompson, their second daughter was married to the 4th
Earl]
He was succeeded by his only son, the aforementioned 5th Earl
(1837-1914), who was the youngest of the family with four older
sisters and was in turn succeeded by his cousin, the 6th Earl
(1841-1921), who was the eldest son of the Rev. Andrew Stuart
(1812-1889, third son of the 2nd Earl) and his first wife the Hon.
Catherine Wingfield, daughter of the 5th Viscount Powerscourt.
Finally, I should mention the obvious lack of consistency with the
spelling of this title. The original surname seems to have been
Stewart and the baronetcy (NS, 1628) and the earldom (Ireland, 1800)
have this spelling, while the two earlier peerages, the barony
(Ireland, 1619) and the viscountcy (Ireland, 1794) have the spelling
Stuart. The family seat is Stuart Hall, which is near the town of
Stewartstown, County Tyrone. Why there should be a difference in the
spelling throughout the generations is unclear, but it should be noted
that the 5th Earl, who was born Henry James Stewart, subsequently
changed his surname to Stuart-Richardson after his marriage (in
deference to his heiress wife). His younger brother was the
aforementioned Rev. Andrew Stuart, who appears to be the first member
of the family to adopt this spelling of the name, which persists
today, although perhaps some members can check their Burkes or
Debretts to double check.
marquess
Jul 17, 2009, 7:23:31 PM7/17/09
to Peerage News
Thank you for this very informative article! Your right the Castle
Stewarts seems to have gone under the radar. I would be most
interested in the current acerage. One would hope that the sons of the
late Hon Simon will produce an heir or two, as after that the peerage
could enter the widerness of uncertainty, as it is descendents if any.
From what you say Stuart Hall might just be a modern modest house,
with the name of an old glorious one.
Stewarts seems to have gone under the radar. I would be most
interested in the current acerage. One would hope that the sons of the
late Hon Simon will produce an heir or two, as after that the peerage
could enter the widerness of uncertainty, as it is descendents if any.
From what you say Stuart Hall might just be a modern modest house,
with the name of an old glorious one.
marquess
Jul 17, 2009, 7:26:40 PM7/17/09
to Peerage News
Though of course if there is substantial acerage it might all go to
the earl's grandaughter and great grandson? The nephews may be left
out. Think of the Monckton case.
> > Debretts to double check.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
the earl's grandaughter and great grandson? The nephews may be left
out. Think of the Monckton case.
>
> - Show quoted text -
Richard R
Jul 18, 2009, 2:15:02 AM7/18/09
to Peerage News
The Hon Simon Stuart's 3rd and youngest son (Tristram James Avondale b
1977) m 2001 Alice Mary Albinia, a gt niece of Sir Hew Fleetwood
Hamilton-Dalrymple 10th & present Bt, but no issue recorded so far.
His two older brothers (Thomas Harry Erskine b 1974 & Corin Edward
Leveson b 1975) have yet to take the plunge.
The 'Stuart' spelling is used throughout for the family name in
Debrett's.
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
1977) m 2001 Alice Mary Albinia, a gt niece of Sir Hew Fleetwood
Hamilton-Dalrymple 10th & present Bt, but no issue recorded so far.
His two older brothers (Thomas Harry Erskine b 1974 & Corin Edward
Leveson b 1975) have yet to take the plunge.
The 'Stuart' spelling is used throughout for the family name in
Debrett's.
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