| Notes |
- Robert Stuart was born 13 May 1744 Powblack (Boblack), Kilmadock parish, Perthshire, Scotland. His baptism was witnessed by Robert Forrester and Alexander Stuart in Frew (possibly his father's cousin).
While most published histories consistently give Robert's father's name as also Robert, Stewarts of the South identifies his father as "James Stewart of Boblach [in] Carse of Frews (Powblack of Frews)". However, the Kilmadock OPR shows his parents as Alexander Stewart in Powblack and Isobel Miller. MacGregor, citing Duncan Stewart 1739 and Stewarts of the South, says, "Robert Stuart of Rait, is said to be in descent from a son of Archibald Stewart, younger son of Alexander Stewart, 1st of Annat, but there is no evidence for that." MacGregor is correct that there is no evidence to show that the Stewarts of Rait descend specifically from a younger son of said Archibald Stewart. Stewarts of the South provides us with a portrait of Robert's birth family as the third family descending from the Stewarts of Annat, without specifying exactly how. Duncan Stewart 1739 mentions only the Stewarts of Glassingall as descending from Archibald, younger of Annat, but does not mention the Stewarts of Rait at all. The Glassingall Court of Session Papers (1849-1856) indicate that all the Stewart claimants for the estate of Glassingall assert descent from Capt. John Stewart (2nd) of Annat. The Stuarts of Rait were among the claimants.
Stewarts of the South says the following about Robert Stuart and his family:
"3 line - James (sic, s/b Alexander*) Stewart, tacksman of Boblach Carse of Frews, Down parish, Earl’s estate, was drowned upon the water of Teith. (The Kilmadock OPR records confirm that the father of General Robert Stuart of Rait was Alexander Stewart of Powblack in Frew, not James. Thus it is not certain whether it was Alexander who drowned in Teith or whether it was an unknown James Stewart who has been confused.) He left two sons:
1. Commissioner Stewart, who was in Stirling. He left one son who sold the little property left him by his grandfather’s mother to his uncle, Gen (General) Robt Stewart of Boblach (below). He now lives between Edinburgh and Falkirk. He has some family.
2. Gen (General) Robert Stewart of Reath (Rait), of the Honorable East India Company, has three sons of whom you know something yourself."
*(Given the shared military connections between Robert Stuart of Rait and the author of Stewarts of the South, it's highly likely they were personally acquainted with each other, which makes it hard to fathom how the author could have been mistaken about the identity of Robert Stuart's father's. This suggests that the error was either simple inattentiveness when writing or it could also be a transcription error, which we cannot verify as we do not have access to the original documents.)
Robert Stuart served as a commander in the army of the Honourable East India Company and actively recruited many of his Stewart cousins into service with the HEIC. In Stewarts of the South he is mentioned as a Lieutenant General, but was later promoted to General. He became extremely wealthy from the East India Company and was arguably the most financially successful of all the Balquhidder Stewarts.
General Robert Stuart acquired the estate of Rait in the Carse of Gowrie in southeast Perthshire (as noted above). He named his residence there, "Annat", after his ancestral home near Doune. As the original line of Stewart of Annat had been sold, General Robert Stuart had the arms re-matriculated and became 1st of Annat in Rait.
In 1817 a book of poetry by John Stewart of the Glenfinglas tribe was published by subscription of other members of the clan. The list of subscribers includes Lieutenant General Stewart of Rait.
Robert's distant cousin, John Stewart, 5th of Annat, was an alcoholic who badly managed the Annat estate and lost it, leaving his sisters in financial peril. Robert Stuart of Rait stepped in to provide for them. Stewarts of the South says: "The last of [the Stewarts of Annat] was a great drunkard, but was very mindful of his two sisters to see them in Stirling for they were much supported by Gen [General] Stewart of Boblach."
"On 29 October 1814, he executed an Entail and Settlement of his estate whereby “in the event of my dying without heirs lawfully begotten of my own body” he disponed his lands and barony of Rait to his natural son Kenneth Bruce Stuart “and the heirs whatsoever of his own body, whom failing, to Robert Stuart, also my natural son, now Merchant in Glasgow, and the heirs whatsoever of his body, which failing, to William Stewart, Esquire, of Ardvorlich, and his heirs and assignees whatsoever, heritably, all and whole the lands and barony of Rait including certain parts of the Estate of Fingask.” He made his Will at Annat Lodge on 3 September 1819, conveying provisions and his estate to his three natural sons, Peter, Kenneth and Robert, his adopted daughter, Margaret, and a niece, Jean Stewart, and d. at Annat Lodge, on 18 February 1820." (MacGregor)
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https://madeinperth.org/lieutenant-general-robert-stuart/
Lieutenant-General Robert Stuart of Annat and Rait Born at Powblack Farm (Doune) 13 May 1744 the son of a farmer, Robert Stuart joined the Bengal Army of the East India Company as a cadet in 1764. By the time he retired from that force in 1803 he reached the rank of Lieutenant-General. Subsequently he served at that level in the British Army of India.
He was awarded the title Behadur (the Brave) by the Moghul Emperor Shah Alam. Robert Stuart died 18 February 1820 and is buried in Kilspindie Churchyard (Carse of Gowrie). On the family tomb in that churchyard is a plaque written in Persian (the court language of the Moghul Empire):
“The Support of the State, Helper of the Kingdom General Robert Stuart, Behadur War a Veritable Sword of Mohammed A Faithful Servant of Shah Alam Ghazi 1212 AH (1834 AD)”
In the 1780s the East India Company army consisted of 70,000 sepoys and 15,000 British troops; in Bengal half of the officer cadre were Scottish. By 1791, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Stuart commanded the 6th Native Infantry Brigade on the Western frontier of Oudh, Northwest of Delhi, with orders to resist Sikh excursions. On January 3rd whilst out riding near Anupshar, Stuart was captured by Sikh outriders, armed with spear, matchlock and scimitar. The 29th battalion under Captain John Breadley pursued in vain as the entire Sikh Army withdrew into their territory. Stuart was now the prisoner of Banga Sing who demanded a ransom for his prisoner. However, Sing allowed Stuart to correspond with the British authorities and their allies; 41 of these letters are held in Perth & Kinross Archives. The letters are pasted into a hardback book and are arranged in chronological order. They chronicle his ten months of captivity and attempts to persuade the British Government to organise an armed rescue attempt instead of negotiating. Many include details of his incarceration and plans to storm his prison. Many of the letters are to a third party, the Begum Sumroo, the ruling princess of the state of Sardhana (between Sikh territory and British controlled India). Begum Sumroo was acting as an intermediary in negotiations and supported Stuart by providing foods and clothing. One issue raised by Stuart in the letters is that of food tampering which he believed was taking place. The letters end on 22 September 1791 and it seems that Stuart was released on 24 October 1791 in exchange for a ransom of 15,000 Rupees - paid for by the East India Company.
After returning to Scotland, Stuart settled down with the huge fortune he had accumulated during his colonial service. He also brought back buffalo and Arabian horses. His retirement was spent at Annat Lodge on Kinnoull Hill, which he purchased from the original builder - a house later associated with the artist Sir Everett Millais and his wife Effie Gray, and later with botanist and entomologist Francis Buchanan White. Plans by Stuart to build a castle at Rait never came to fruition.
Perth & Kinross Archives is home to may of the surviving papers of Robert Stuart, donated by his descendants in 2006. Perth Museum & Art Gallery has a collection associated with Stuart including a portrait in oils (Baird).
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From Ailsa
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Stuart of Annat and Rait was born at Powblack Farm in Doune on 13 May 1744. He was the son of farmer Robert Stuart.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Stuart died on 18 February 1820 and is buried in Kilspindie Churchyard, Carse of Gowrie. On his tomb is a plaque written in Persian “The Support of the State, Helper of the Kingdom General Robert Stuart, Behadur War a Veritable Sword of Mohammed A faithful Servant of Shah Alam Ghazi”.
He joined the Bengal Army of the East India Company as a cadet in 1764 serving in India. By the 1780s the army consisted of 70,000 sepoys and 15,000 British Troops, in Bengal half of the officers were Scottish. By 1791, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Stuart commanded the 6th Native Infantry Brigade on the western frontier of Oudh, northwest Delhi with order to resist Sikh attacks. On 3 January while out riding his horse he was captured and made prisoner by the Sikh Chief Banga Singh who demanded a ransom for his return.
Stuart’s release from captivity was secured by a 4 ½ foot former dancing girl called Begum Samru. She had been picked up from the red light district by a mercenary soldier Walter Reinhardt Sombre. Sombre treated Samru as his equal and allowed her to train as a mercenary and was renowned for her bravery when leading her army into battle. On Sombre’s death, Samru took over the lucrative Principality of Sardhana. Samru had converted to Catholicism and on discovering that the Catholic Lieutenant-Colonel, Robert Stuart, had been kidnapped she set out securing his release.
Stuart wrote to Sumru whilst in captivity and she supported him with food and clothing. On 24 October 1791 she managed to secure his release in exchange for payment of a 15,000 Rupee ransom (later reimbursed by the East India Company). Stuart was awarded the title Behadur (the Brave) by the Moghul Emperor Shah Alam. Samru has been depicted in various works including Sir Walter Scott's The Surgeon's Daughter.
When Stuart returned to Scotland he brought back black buffalo and Arabian horses. He settled at Annat lodge, Kinnoull Hill, Perth which was named after his ancestral home in Doune. His house would later be associated with the painter Sir Everett Millais and his wife Effie Gray.
With the huge fortune Stuart had accumulated during his colonial service he provided pensions for several of his widowed and spinster cousins, including the sisters of John Stewart, 5th and last of Annat, who was a drunk and sold the family estate of Annat in Kilmadock.
Forty-one letters and other possessions are held in Perth and Kinross archives chronicling his life including the 10 months he spent in captivity. His portrait by Baird is hung at the Perth Museum and Gallery.
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1744 - 1820 (75 years)
