| Notes |
- Robert Stewart was served heir general to his father on 13 March 17515 and succeeded to the lands of Ardvorlich in 1760, as heir male to his distant cousin, Robert Stewart of Ardvorlich. (Gordon MacGregor, The Red Book of Scotland)
In 1760, this Robert's distant cousin, another Robert Stewart who was 6th of Ardvorlich, died without heirs and the principal branch of Ardvorlich died out with him. As such, the estate devolved upon the second branch of the family to this Robert Stewart who became 7th of Ardvorlich. Although the death of Robert Stewart, 6th of Ardvorlich, is given as 1760, this Robert was already residing at Ardvorlich as early as 1751 when his daughter Catherine was born there, and he was already being styled "of Ardvorlich" as early as 1754 when his son John was born and Robert was recorded in the Comrie OPR as "of Ardvorlich."
Robert is referred to in Stewarts of the South as follows:
"2 Branch Robert Stewart Taxman of Balmeanach father to the present Mr Stewart when he was born there was thirteen between him and the estate. It was with some difficulty he got the estate at all as he was not an active man himself. This family were called the House of Balmeanach of which farm they had a wadset or Feu of which they were dispossessed in an unlawful way by Robert of the first branch a rude and unruly man. The first of this Branch was one William an Uncle's son (sic) to Major Stewart, he was called William MacAlastir, the major mentioned above was the bloody M James Stewart who killed Lord Kilpont. Ardvorlich is on the South Side of Lochearn parish of Comrie County of Perth."
(The author of Stewarts of the South mistakenly says that the first of the Balmeanach line was "an uncle's son" to Major James Beag Stewart, 2nd Ardvorlich, when in fact William Stewart, 1st Balmeanach, was James' brother.)
This Robert Stewart was described in Stewarts of the South as a "simple man of little experience". On two occasions he almost gave up the estate of Ardvorlich to his cousins. One occasion happened when his distant cousin, David Stewart of Ballachallan, tried to swindle him out of the property by offering to pay Robert's debt and some money to Robert and to leave Robert the estate if he died without children. Robert was talked out of accepting the deal by his wife and his brother James. The other time came when Stewart of Appin tried to buy Ardvorlich, but Rob Roy intervened:
Rob Roy's Advice Saves Ardvorlich
Robert Stewart, 7th of Ardvorlich, was an acquaintance of Rob Roy MacGregor according to the following excerpt from Stewarts of the South:
The late Robert Stewart of Ardvorlich intended to sell Ardvorlich itself, and would actually have sold it if it were not for advice given to him by Rob Roy McGregor - famed for good as well as bad actions - when he was driven from Callander and Balquhidder for his pranks upon the Duke of Montrose. Rob Roy was a fugitive at Auch Glenurchay. Robert of Ardvorlich lodged a night with Rob Roy when Robert Stewart was going to sell Ardvorlich to Stewart of Appin. Rob Roy advised him to keep Feuer of Ardvorlich and that the Feu should keep him.
It is remarkable that an Ardvorlich Stewart would take advice from a MacGregor after the murder of Drummonderinoch. If the reader thinks those memories were forgiven and forgotten by the mid-18th century, let me share with you a 20th century story. I am informed by Gordon MacGregor, a Strathearn historian who is descended from two of the alleged murderers of Drummonderinoch, as follows:
"John Stewart, late of Ardvorlich (14th), flung my uncle, the then Chief Inspector of the Perthshire Police, out of his house for our part in this crime fully 400 hundred years later!! Long are the memories in Highland Strathearn!" (Gordon MacGregor, The Red Book of Scotland, private correspondence)
Sources conflict over the identity of Robert's wife. Her name was Margaret Stewart and she belonged to the Annat branch, but which Margaret Stewart? There are two candidates. MacGregor shows Margaret being the daughter of Alexander Stewart, 4th of Annat. However this contradicts the accounts of Stewarts of the South and The Annat Tree which both say that Margaret Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 4th of Annat, resided with her sister Francis in Stirling and received income from the family tack of Offrans and a pension from her cousin Lt. Col. Robert Stuart of Rait (later General Stuart) of the Drumvaich family below, inferring that she was a spinster. The Annat Tree shows the wife of Ardvorlich as Margaret Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, predecessor of the Drumvaich family, a cadet branch of the Stewarts of Annat, as shown here. Onomastics also favour this choice as Robert and Margaret had a second son named John and no son named Alexander.
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Abt 1707 - 1770 (~ 62 years)
