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- "John was the second valet de chambre of Prince Charles Edward Stuart from 1746 till the dismissal of Daniel O'Brien, the Prince first valet, then he took his place. He remained constantly at the side of the Prince, being his closest confident and factotum, being later rewarded with the rank of Maestro di Casa (majordomo) during his late years in Italy. In 1784 he was created Baronet, but it must be noted that this did not mean necessarily he was a landowner, since Jacobite baronetcies were often awarded because of bonds of loyalty to the King over the Water only.
"He was son of a James Steuart, and declared himself of "an Atholl man of the Ardvorlich branch", but I've not found anyone who could be his father in Stewarts genealogies.
"He had to be born between 1718 and 1722 because he was roughly the same age of the Prince, born in 1720. He married Rosa Fiorani, an Italian woman, daughter of a Domenico Fiorani and for sure younger then John. The Fiorani family held no titles even if that do not exclude they were of some social status. The couple married between 1772 and 1774, precise date unkown.
"There's no documentary evidence of John's whereabouts before 1746, even if during the 1850s his son Carlo testified the father had joined Prince Charles Edward during his period skulking in the Hebrides. If true, one can guess John had been out in the Forty-five and on the run from the Redcoats like many others Jacobites. Anyway no primary source about the Prince's flight mentions him.
"Another point of interest could be that antiquarian James Dennistoun, who had interviews with John's son Carlo, claimed a cousin of John sacrificed himself allowing to be taken prisoner to save the Prince during his flight."
(Stefano Baccolo)
https://univp.academia.edu/StefanoBaccolo
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A source says that John Stewart, majordomo to Prince Charles, was the son of a James Stewart, so far unidentified.
There were two John Stewarts who were close aids to Prince Charles. Many historical commentators conflate them. The other was Sir John Roy Stewart, son of Donald Stewart
On 20 March 1775, while in Florence, Prince Charles received a mystery visitor from Scotland, who later wrote a letter about his experience meeting the Prince. The letter is unsigned; the writer is unknown. He identifies himself as belonging to the Stewarts of Glenbuckie, and was a “near relation” to the late Capt. Alexander Stewart, 10th of Glenbuckie, who was murdered in 1745. Prince Charles’ valet, who greets this mystery Stewart from Glenbuckie, is identified as John Stewart, from the family of Ardvorlich. An excerpt of that letter has survived.
Extract of a Letter from Pisa, March 20, 1775:
"My intention was not to write to you till I should be at Rome, but my wishes happened to be crowned with success nearer hand. We went to Florence from this place on the 18th of last month and arrived the same night. The next morning I was told Prince Jarlagh [Charlie] was in town. I made an impatient ramble till I found out that he had a servant who could speak English, who proved to be a rank Highlander, John Stewart of the family of Ardvorlich. He has been with his royal master ever since the year 1745. He is the upper domestick [domestic servant]. We were happy to meet each other. I asked if it was possible I could say in my own country I had spoken to his master. He replied, there was no difficulty and desired me to come next morning, the 22d, and I should obtain my request. Accordingly, I came at 9 o’clock, time enough to breakfast with Mr. Stewart before Prince Jarlagh could be seen, which was 11; when Mr. Stewart called me upstairs, and introduced me into his dressing-room; where seeing him before me, I kneel’d down. He kindly gave me his right hand, which I did myself the honour to kiss, saying, ‘it was the loyalty of my parents to his royal family that emboldened me to presume this attempt.’ He asked me what family I was of. I answered, ‘Of the house of Glenbucky; that the late Alexander was a near relation to me.’ ‘Ah I poor man!’ said he, ‘I remember him perfectly well.’ He spoke a few words more in which he said, ‘My lad, I wish you well,’ and then retired. He looks old in complexion and is pretty stout in person. He keeps a constant grand equipage especially when at Rome. He is still at Florence, but is expected at Pisa in a month’s time."
(Originally published in The Lyon in Mourning or a Collection of Speeches, Letters, Journals, Etc. Relative to the Affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, by the Rev. Robert Forbes, A.M., Bishop of Ross and Caithness, 1746-1775. Edited from his Manuscript, with a Preface by Henry Paton, M.A.. In Three Volumes. EDINBURGH. Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society, October 1896. Volume III, pp. 364-365.)
The author of this letter is not identified other than being of the house of the Stewarts of Glenbuckie and a near relation to the late Capt. Alexander Stewart, 10th of Glenbuckie, who was murdered in 1745. But our concern is the identity of the valet, who is identified as "John Stewart of the family of Ardvorlich."
This same John Stewart of the family of Ardvorlich, and valet to Prince Charles, is also mentioned in the following excerpt from the book, Un Stuart dans la Nation Corse:
"John Stuart n’était pas la seule personne portant ce nom employé auprès de la cour exilée de Rome. John Roy Stuart d’Ardvorlich en Écosse arriva à Rome en 1740 et se maria plus tard avec une noble italienne prénommée Rosa. Il servit en tant que valet de chambre et puis comme maggiordomo auprès du Prince Charles durant 20 ans, et il fut titré baronet Jacobite en 1784. John Roy Stuart était toujours en vie en 1788 quand le Prince Charles lui it un legs dans son testament, mais la date de sa mort demeure inconnue. Son fils Carlo devint colonel au service du pape et était toujours vivant en 1848." (Un Stuart dans la Nation Corse, by Desideriu Ramelet-Stuart, (Editions Stuart of Corsica © 2013. p 4.)
I have translated the above text from French into English:
"John Stewart was not the only person of that name employed as part of the exiled court in Rome. John Roy Stewart of Ardvorlich in Scotland arrived in Rome in 1740 and married late with a noble Italian named Rosa. He served as the valet of the chamber and also as majordomo to Prince Charles for 20 years and he was styled a Jacobite baronet in 1784. John “The Red” Stewart was still alive in 1788 when Prince Charles left him a bequest in his will, but the date of his death remains unknown. His son Charles served as a colonel to the pope and was still alive in 1848."
There are some key tidbits in this text. It mentions that John Roy Stewart arrived in Rome in 1740 which was before the 1745 Rising! It says that John married late, presumably not long after that. So he must have been old enough to be an adult in 1740 and young enough to still be alive in 1788. Thus a birth sometime around 1700-1720ish would seem right.
John had enough standing on his own, not just as the Prince’s valet, to be able to marry an Italian woman of noble birth.
John is named as a Jacobite baronet in 1784. This means that he was a land owner. Although he was “of the family of Ardvorlich,” we know that he was not a laird of Ardvorlich itself as we have a thorough accounting of the lairds of Ardvorlich and there is no John Stewart among them. So John Roy Stewart had to have been the laird of a lesser estate closely connected to Ardvorlich. Balimeanach was the next closest estate to the main Ardvorlich line.
The John Stewart I suggested above who was born in 1709, is just the right age to be an adult in 1740 and still alive in 1788. He was the second son of William Stewart, 4th in Balimeanach. The house of Balimeanach at the time of John’s birth was a cadet branch of Ardvorlich, second in seniority to the main branch. As the second son of the family, John would not have been due to inherit Balimeanach. However, all of that changed in 1760, when his distant cousin, Robert Stewart, 6th of Ardvorlich, died without issue and the old family of Ardvorlich became extinct. Suddenly John Stewart’s older brother, Robert, found himself unexpectedly the heir of the estate of Ardvorlich.
Until now, we have account John’s oldest brother as Robert Stewart, 5th of Balimeanach and 7th of Ardvorlich. We had no information on what happened to the estate of Balimeanach after Robert Stewart, 5th of Balimeanach, inherited Ardvorlich. Until now, we had assumed that Balimeanach had simply been rolled into the larger Ardvorlich estate, as there was no further mention of Balimeanach and both properties are located adjacent to each other. But this new information would suggest otherwise.
It would make sense, when John’s oldest brother, Robert, inherited Ardvorlich, that Robert would then give Balimeanach to his next younger brother, namely John. Thus, I think John Stewart, as next in line, inherited Balimeanach, and should be accounted as 6th of Balimeanach. And this transaction would have taken place in 1760 and, thus, John would accurately be described as a “Jacobite Baronet of the family of Ardvorlich” in 1784.
John also came from a family of factors. His younger brother, James, was factor to Ardvorlich. And his nephew, William, 8th of Ardvorlich, was factor to the Earl of Breadalbane. So it would be fitting that John would have had an administrative roll in the exiled Royal court of Prince Charlie.
The fact that John Roy Stewart, the valet, named (what appears to be) his only son, Charles (Carlos), breaking from the traditional naming custom, would appear to be an homage to the Prince he so faithfully served for most of his life.
Everything fits! I think we have successfully identified John Roy Stewart, Prince Charlie’s valet, as John Stewart, second son of William Stewart, 4th of Balimeanach.
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The Exiled Stewarts in Italy, 1717-1807, edited by Helen Catherine Stewart, Hon. Serving Sister of St. John of Jerusalem.
p 63-64
Prince Charles Edward had an unhappy life both in Florence and in Rome, but his last days were soothed by the care and attention of his daughter. The weather-vane of the Palazzo San Clementi (formerly Guadagni) where they lived in Florence still bears the royal initials ‘C.R.’ In 1786, they moved to Rome and settled in the Palazzo Muti in the Piazza S.S. Apostoli. In 1787, Charlotte was given entire charge of her father’s affairs. He had one faithful friend, ‘John Stewart, an Athol man,’* who remained with him to the very end and was with him when he died on January 30, 1788. After his death six altars were set up in the palace and two hundred masses were said during the thirty hours that elapsed before the body of Charles Edward Stewart was transferred in a horse litter to Frascati, where he was buried in his brother’s cathedral.
*Footnote: John Stewart (whose father’s name was James) is called by Prince Charles Edward in his will his “Maestro di Casa,” and the bequest is made to him of one hundred ‘Scudi Fiorentini’ a month, as well as a pleasant and convenient apartment in the Florentine palace, in recognition of his faithful and assiduous service. John Stewart married a Roman, Rosa Fiorani, and in 1787 their son Charles sought admission to the English College in Rome, his ‘Protettore’ being Cardinal Corsini.
When working in the Vatican during 1938, the writer was able to follow up the career of this Charles Stewart though the publication of a new pamphlet (not yet put into the library) relating to the Castellans of the Castle of Sant’ Angelo. Charles became an officer in the Papal Army and rose to be Director of the Artillery School. He was generally esteemed, of an imposing figure, dignified yet simple. Pius IX made him provisional Commandant of Sant’ Angelo, and he was present when the Pope fled to Gaeta in 1848 and at the proclamation of the Republic. He remained in command until the French took the castle on July 3, 1848.He died at 104 Via Frattina, Rome, on December 27, 1864, and lies buried in the parish church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, in the left transept of which there are marble tablets to his memory and that of his wife, Marianna Pioli. The inscription to him is as follows:
"Hic Jacet Carolus Stuvart
Ultimus E Stirpe Quae Exturbatos Ex Anglia Reges
Per Exilia Et Expeditiones Sequuta
Cum Carolo Odoardo Duce Romae Demum Condsedit
In Pontificia Militia Ballistariorum Regimen Tenuit
Ipso Curante Munitiones Centumcellarum Adauctae
Urbis Arci Praefuit
Plurium Equitatum Insignia Meruit
Patrimonio Pauperibus Di Turno Famulatu Sibi Addictis Relicto
Obit Sexto Kalendas Januarias Anni MDCCLXV Annos Natus LXXXVI
Corpus Eius Voluntate Prope Illud Praemortuae Uxoris Hic Positum
In Pace Domini Diem Resurrectionis Expectat."
"Here lies Charles Stuart, the last from that stalk (root/lineage). And he sat (ruled over?) those kings disturbed (expelled?) from England through exile and expeditions (someone is following someone or something - can't figure out the antecedent)….with Charles Edward, leader at/from/of Rome until/at the end. He held (led?) a regiment in the/a priestly militia of ballistics (probably catapulters). He was in charge of the citadel of the city, additional munitions in a hundred cells/cellars (plus something about while caring for it himself).
He earned many medals for horsemanship
(things get a little murkier here - no main verb, just a bunch of ablative absolutes)
Having left his homeland, having addressed the poor...by a servant..to the gods/God..to himself...in turn
He died six days before the Kalends of January in the year 1865, born (having lived) 86 years.
By his wishes, his body was placed near his wife, who died before him.
He awaits the day of resurrection of God in peace."
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The Stuarts in Italy, 1719-1766: A Royal Court in Permanent Exile, by Edward T. Corp
P 349
The news was taken to Prince Charles by Lumisden, who met him on the road south of Florence. The prince was accompanied by three Scottish gentlemen, John Hay of Restalrig, Adam Urquhart and Lachlan Mackintosh, by his Scottish valet de chambre, John Roy Stuart, and by…
P 351
The strains in the Palazzo del Re came to a head in December 1768. According to his biographer, the prince ‘had done little [that year] but drink’, and ‘his drunken rages increased in intensity’. In a scene which has often been described, Prince Charles dismissed Hay of Restalrig, Lumisden and Urquhart for trying to stop him attending the performance of an oratorio while drun. The three Scots were replaced by four Italians, but John Roy Stuart, the valet de chambre, was promoted to be maggiordomo. That appointment, made while Sir John Constable was sill living in the palazzo, indicated the depth to which the household of Prince Charles had sunk in only three years.
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