| Notes |
- John Stewart, III, latterly known as "John of the Grodich," was born 12 Feb 1773 in Auchnahard in Glen Finglas in Callander parish, Perthshire, Scotland, as the eldest son of John Stewart, Jr., in Auchnahard and Christian Stewart from Kiep in Upper Strathyre. He was baptised on 12 Oct 1773 in Callander parish, Perthshire, Scotland. John's parents were paternal fourth cousins, descending from two different sons of James Mhor Stewart in Port of Loch Earn, through the Stewarts of Ardvorlich and the Stewarts of Annat -- two of the major branches of the Stewarts of Balquhidder.
John Stewart's father's family had been senior tenants of the Auchnahard Farm in Glen Finglas for four generations, descended from John Buidhe Mor Stewart ("Big John of the Yellow Hair"), an illegitimate son of John Stewart, 2nd of Annat, who acquired a one-eighth share of Glen Finglas around 1620. This family were known as the "Bain Stewarts" due to their fair coloured hair. His grandfather was John Stewart, 1st of Portnellan, a younger son of James Mhor Stewart in Port of Loch Earn, and progenitor of the Stewarts of Annat.
John Stewart's mother's family came from Ardveich on the northwest shore of Loch Earn, where their family had also lived for four generations. Her ancestor was John Dubh Mhor Stewart in Dalveich, illegitimate son of James Beag Stewart, 2nd of Ardvorlich, son of Alexander Stewart, 1st of Ardvorlich, older brother of John Stewart, 1st of Portnellan, mentioned above.
About 1778, when John Stewart was five-years-old, his father died, leaving his widowed mother with three children under the age of five. His mother married secondly on 25 Apr 1779 in Callander, Perthshire, Scotland to another John Stewart from Corriechrombie, who was descended from the Stewarts of Glenbuckie. Young John Stewart grew up on his stepfather's farm at Corriechrombie in nearby Lower Strathyre before returning to Glen Finglas as an adult.
Mrs. Stewart of Milton's 1907 Account of John's family says, "Of the Grodich Stewarts who left Grodich and came to Auchnahard, there were three of the name of John in succession - grandfather, father and son. That family eventually went to Aberdeen and became wine merchants there. (sic)" (No record has been found of any later descendants of this family moving to Aberdeen to become wine merchants. It is believed that Mrs. Stewart was mistaken on this matter and has confused this family with a different one.) She says later: "Of the [that] Grodich family, the first of the three Johns was possibly the son of John Stewart, Glenfinlas and Mary Buchanan." Mrs. Stewart of Milton was a first cousin to John Stewart's future wife who, in 1907, dictated her thorough knowledge of all the Stewart families who had lived in Glen Finglas.
The three generations of John Stewarts in Grodich referred to by Mrs. Stewart of Milton are:
1. Grandfather - John Stewart's father, John Stewart, Jr., in Auchnahard.
2. Father - John Stewart, III, "of the Grodic" himself.
3. Son - John Stewart's son, John Stewart, IV, in Grodich.
Mrs. Stewart of Milton is correct in her belief that the first of these three John Stewarts was himself the son of John Ban Mor Stewart, Sr., and Mary Buchanan, after whom the name "Bain Stewarts" was coined, making four consecutive John Stewarts. And this family did indeed return to Auchnahard sometime between 1825-1841.
On 18 Mar 1813, at age 40, John Stewart "of the Grodich" married in Callander parish to his first cousin, Mary Stewart, age 24, daughter of his father's brother, Duncan Stewart, and Mary McKinlay. Mary Stewart was born in 1789 also at Auchnahard. Mary's mother, Mary McKinlay came from the McKinlays of The Anie in nearby Strathyre. (Given John's age at marriage, it is possible that he may have been previously married, but we have found no record of any prior marriage.)
John Stewart and Mary Stewart had five children between 1814-1825 at Grodich in Glen Finglas. Because the majority of tenants in Glen Finglas in that time were Stewarts who originated from five different Stewart families who had resided in Glen Finglas since the early 17th century, and who all intermarried, nicknames became commonplace to distinguish among people with the same names. John became known as "John of the Grodich."
Grodich was one of four major farmsteads in Glen Finglas, including Auchnahard, Duart and Brig o' Turk. Grodich is found with many spelling variants. It derives from the Gaelic, "Grod Achadh" which translates to "Putrid Field" or "Rotten Place" (Watson, 1926, p. 445). Its unflattering name may derive from the smell of a nearby bog.
On 14 Jan 1814, just ten months after their marriage, John and Mary Stewart welcomed the birth of their first child, a daughter named Christian Stewart. Christian was named after her father's mother, Christian Stewart. Christian Stewart died young at the age of 14.
A year later, on 18 June 1815, they welcomed their second child, another daughter, Mary Stewart. Mary was named after both her mother, Mary Stewart, and her maternal grandmother, Mary McKinlay. Mary also died young at the age of 12.
On 30 July 1818, John and Mary Stewart welcomed their third child, a son named John Stewart, IV, named after his father, his father's father, his father's grandfather, and his mother's father. John Stewart would grow to adulthood and later inherit the Grodich farm and marry a Stewart woman from yet another Stewart family. His story is told separately.
John Stewart is identified in Stewarts of the South (c. 1815-1820) in the entry pertaining to his father, which says "John Stewart, late tenant at Auchnahaird, left one son, called "John Tacksman of Grodlick" [Grodich]. One-eighth of Glenfinglas. He has one son who is a minor."
On 13 Apr 1821, John and Mary Stewart had their fourth child, Duncan Stewart, who was named after his maternal grandfather, Duncan Stewart. Duncan also did not survive childhood and died at the age of 9.
In 1825, John and Mary Stewart welcomed the birth of their fifth and last child, another daughter, named Catherine. No record of her baptism has been found. She later married James McCall and had a family in the nearby Village of Callander.
On 2 May 1825, John Stewart's wife Mary died in Callander parish. Given the timing of her death, it may be that she died from complications in childbirth. John was left to raise his children as a widower and never remarried.
As John and his surviving children are later found back in nearby Auchnahard, and as his parents were long deceased, it seems likely that he returned to Auchnahard to be nearer to his late wife's family for assistance raising the children.
On 4 Jun 1827, two years after losing his wife, John Stewart's second daughter, Mary Stewart, died.
Just over a year later, on 12 Oct 1828, John Stewart's eldest daughter, Christian Stewart, died.
Eighteen months later, on 25 Apr 1830, John Stewart's youngest son, Duncan Stewart, died.
Within the space of five short years, John lost his wife and three of his children. His grief must have been unfathomable.
In the 1841 census, at age 60 (sic, he was actually 68), John Stewart was residing at Glenfinglas Auchnahard #8 in Callander parish, Perthshire, Scotland. He was employed as a farmer. His surviving children, John, age 20, and Catherine, age 15, were living with him, along with some farm labourers.
In the 1851 census, at age 77, John Stewart was residing at Auchnahard in Glen Finglas, employed as a grazier and farmer of 20 arable acres and employing three men. Residing with him were his son, John Stewart, age 32; his son's future wife, Margaret Stewart, age 22 (daughter of Peter Stewart in Immervoulin and Jean McGregor), who was employed as a servant on the farm; and another John Stewart, age 26, born in Callander, who was working as a ploughman on the farm. (His birth family has not been identified.)
In the 1861 census, at age 87, John Stewart was at Glenfinglas Farm, which was likely Auchnahard as the Auchnahard Farm was also known as Glenfinglas Farm. He was employed as a sheep grazier. He was living with his son, John Stewart, who was now married with two young children of his own.
In the 1871 census, at age 97, John Stewart was residing at an unidentified farm in Callander parish, presumed to be Auchnahard. He was identified as a farmer of 1800 acres of which only 20 were arable. He was residing with his son, John Stewart, and John's wife and children.
About 1871, it is believed that John Stewart was visited by a Highland story-collector named John Dewar, who wrote in his journal, "Iain Stiúvart Groide ann Gleann fionnghlais 95 old" (entry D6.71) which translates as "John Stewart, Groide [Grodich] in Glen Finglas, 95-years-old." According to the Dewar Project, "all except ‘95 old’ is scored through, indicating that Dewar had visited him, or otherwise eliminated him from his enquiries. He is not known to have supplied any stories." Although his age is recorded as 95, this appears to be approximate as he would have been 98-years-old in 1871.
On 10 Dec 1873, having outlived his wife by half a century, John Stewart died at the formidable age of 100 years at the Auchnahard farm in Glen Finglas in Callander parish, Perthshire, Scotland. John Stewart's place of burial is unknown, but he is presumed to have been buried in nearby Brig o' Turk cemetery at the foot of Glen Finglas or possibly in parish cemetery in Callander, however no record of a burial or headstone has been found.
John Stewart's son, John Stewart, IV, returned to the Grodich farm by 1881 where he remained until his death sometime between 1891-1897. His son, John Stewart, V, moved to Ledard Cottage on the north shore of Loch Ard in Aberfoyle parish, where he was employed as a farm manager for the Duke of Montrose. He had three children including a son and daughter who both became physicians in the 1920s.
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From Sue MacKay from the Dewar Project
https://www.dewarproject.com/index.html
"John Dewar was a Gaelic-speaking native of Arrochar (Dunbartonshire) who lived from 1802 to 1872. Paid by the duke of Argyll, he spent the last ten years or so of his life wandering around the West Highlands taking down historical tales in Gaelic from the mouths of the people. These were collected by his principal patron, John Francis Campbell of Islay (the duke’s cousin) into ten manuscripts, seven of which are in the Argyll Papers at Inveraray Castle, and three of which are in the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, consisting of altogether 4,338 pages of writing. Taken together, these form a chaotic but priceless collection of traditional stories that may be described as ‘the people’s history of the West Highlands, in their own language, from 1306 to 1752’."
At D6.71, immediately below his entry on Alexander Sinclair, Dewar writes ‘Iain Stiúvart Groide ann Gleann fionnghlais 95 old’ (‘John Stewart, Groide in Glen Finglas, 95 years old’). All except ‘95 old’ is scored through, indicating that Dewar had visited him, or otherwise eliminated him from his enquiries. He is not known to have supplied any stories.
Glen Finglas is now under water. Groide is given by Watson (1926, p. 445) as Groidich ‘Rotten Place’. We are grateful to Dr Richard Cox, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (e-mail, 23.9.19), for the following notes received from Mr Robert MacLean, formerly of Duncraggan Cottage, Brig o’ Turk: “ER 1451 Grodich Larg (? = Bealach Grodich, grid ref. OS 1843–82 NN519080); ER 1461 Grodich, Stobie1783 Groddich = Grod Achadh, grid ref. OS 1843–82 NN522090.”
John Stewart was born about 1774 in the parish of Callander, and married a woman called Mary. He may well have been an incomer to Glen Finglas, the product of enclosures, the introduction of sheep-runs, and the amalgamation of tenancies. He has not so far been identified in census data until 1861, when we find him aged 87, a widower, described as a sheep grazier, living in Glen Finglas with his son John, 42, his daughter-in-law Margaret, 32, and their two children and two servants. In 1871 everything is much the same, except that he is now described as a farmer of 1,800 acres, of which only 20 are arable – clearly a hill farm.
John Stewart, sen., died at Auchnahard, Glen Finglas, on 10 December 1873. His age is given on the death certificate as 100. If this is true, it must have been in 1868 that Dewar noted his name and perhaps visited him. All this makes it perfectly possible that he is the ‘Stewart, Mr John, Groidich, Glenfinglass’ named in the subscription list to a work published when he would already have been 44 years old (Stewart 1817, p. 87). Our thanks to Dr Cox for this also.
John Stewart, jun., inherited the farm. The 1871 census finds him at Grodich, aged 62, with his wife Margaret, 52, their children John and Mary, and their two servants.
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1773 - 1873 (100 years)
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