Jean Stewart (abt. 1481 - 1550)

Born about 1481 in Fife, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

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Jean Stewart was an inhabitant of Medieval Scotland. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Brad Verity has posted a detailed examination of evidence for the daughters of the first Earl of Atholl, and this profile is one of those daughters. As a descendant of English and Scottish royalty it is interesting to get their story right.^[1]

According to Verity, Jean's first name is uncertain, apparently first recorded centuries after she lived.

Also, the name of her husband is often wrongly given, and there was no Robert Gordon of Pitlurg. Gordon pedigrees make it clear her husband was named John. (The correct John Gordon is for example on the Genealogics website, citing Burkes, but with Robert Gordon and Jean Stewart as his parents.^[2])

Verity describes the evidence:

The first, earlier, source is a manuscript pedigree from about the year 1644, which states, "His son John Gordon second Laird of Pitlurge married the Earl of Athols daughter Stuart, with whom he begat a son John Gordon third Laird of Pittlurg":

https://archive.org/stream/houseofgordon01bulluoft#page/n111/mode/2up

The other source, a 1894 book 'The Thanage of Fermartyn' by Rev. William Temple, states "He [John Gordon, who in 1539 received a grant of the lands of Pitlurge] married Lady Jane Stuart, daughter of the first Earl of Athole of that family, by his second wife, Lady Eleanor St. Clair...Lady Jean predeceased her husband, having borne him two sons...John Gordon married secondly, Margaret Drummond, of the family of Stobhall, without issue...He died in 1546, and was succeeded by his eldest son":

https://archive.org/stream/thanageoffermart00temp#page/310/mode/2up

No documentation by Rev. Temple is offered as evidence for any of the above. The marriage settlement of John Gordon, son and heir of John Gordon of Pitlurg and his Stewart of Atholl wife, to Janet Ogilvy, is dated 7 December 1543:

https://archive.org/stream/registrummagnisi03scot#page/694/mode/2up

John Gordon of Pitlurg was dead by 8 July 1546, when his son and heir John Gordon confirmed the dower lands of his stepmother Margaret Drummond:

https://archive.org/stream/registrummagnisi03scot#page/766/mode/2up

It's interesting that the 1644 manuscript doesn't name John Gordon's Stewart of Atholl wife. It's not until DP in 1813 that we get a name for her, 'Jean'. There's a reason to think that Jean, however, was not this daughter's first name. We know the 1st Earl of Atholl had a daughter by that name by his first wife Margaret Douglas. That Jean/Janet became the countess of Huntly. It would appear he also had a daughter by the name Jean with his second wife Eleanor Sinclair, that was a separate lady from this wife of John Gordon.

Sources

1. ↑ Lost Rootsweb mailing list thread, List: GEN-MEDIEVAL/2014-05/1400274049 (Not archived.)
2. ↑ http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00253619&tree=LEO