Question

Is Maria Jean Fleming 1523-1578 a daughter of Lady Janet Stewart? member introducing myself

Comments

Welcome to WikiTree K Cooper!!!

Answer 1

YES, she is a child of Malcolm FLEMING and Janet STEWART

https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/swartz-rand-family-tree/I88898626.php

Comments

Sorry K. and Dorothy, but that website is unsourced and the Maria Jean Fleming on there is almost certainly not their daughter, if she existed at all.

Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming and his wife Janet Stewart, did have a daughter Mary or Marie, but according to The Scots Peerage, vol. 8, p. 541 she was born in 1542.  There is another daughter Janet, who might have been born earlier, but as the marriage contract for their parents wasn't signed until 27 January 1524/25, she can't have been born in 1523.  

The Scots Peerage also makes it clear that none of the daughters were married to a William Stark.  Also in this time period having more than one given name is rare, so unlikely anyone would be named Maria Jean. 

Unfortunately it is quite common in unsourced genealogies for people to be attached to noble parents based solely on the same or similar surname and about the same period, and this is what seems to have happened here.

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Why could not she have been born prior to their marriage?  Illegitimate children are and were born all the time, amd especially among the privileged.

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In the time period you are talking about K, illegitimate children were quite rare, even among the aristocracy. This goes for both the Tudor & the early Stuart periods, when birth rates in & outside marriage were lower than usually imagined. Age at marriage was on average approx mid twenties, which may explain less births. It is not until later, late 17th, 18th century, that things become more profligate.

Also, is there any evidence for an illegitimate child?

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Scotland was slightly different from England in this time period as both James IV and James V, Kings of Scotland did have a number of illegitimate children, and Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming did have 2 illegitimate sons, (see The Scots Peerage linked to above) and his wife Janet Stewart (then his widow) also had an illegitimate son with Henry II, King of France.  

However the reason we know about all these illegitimate children is because they are well-documented with primary records.  There appear to be no records that support Maria Jean Fleming being connected to this family group, either legitimate or illegitimate.

Answer 2

Yes she is...