John Steward (1325 - 1408)

Born 1325 in Scotland

Descendants

Died 1408 at about age 83 in Calais, Picardie, France

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This profile is part of the Stewart Name Study.

Biography

Sir John Stewart the Scotangle or Scot-English was a real person.

He apparently came to England in the time of Henry IV, although Bennet suspects he and his family had been out of Scotland longer than the stated in the family story, which stated that he came to England because he was on the boat with King James which was captured by the English in 1406.

It appears that his father Alexander had worked in France for the king there. His son John first appears in records as a close servant of the French princess Catherine who would become queen of England after Agincourt. Throughout the reign of Henry V, her husband, King James was present as a captive.

Bennet writes:

Sir Walter Steward, who brought a company of nineteen men into England in 1393 and was retained by Richard II with an annuity of 100 marks, was evidently a man of some quality and military experience. He married an English lady and may have put down roots. If Scotangle were a member of Sir Walter Steward’s party in 1393, it would provide a more realistic time-frame for the birth of his son and, according to the family chronicle, two other children.

According to the family in later centuries he passed away in 1408. H. Stewart writes:

That John died in 1408 is recorded in the genealogies wherein it is also stated that he vas buried at the Carmelite Friary; these events are corroborated in a curious way by another record from. the letters patent of. the Crown:

1409 January, 9th—Grant for. life to the King's esquire Richard Wydevyle and Joan his wife of all the King's tenements in the town of Valais lying between the tenement of John Mulso on one side towards the north and the inn of the King's son the prince on the other side towards the south and the mansion of the Friars Carmelite towards the west and the tenement. of John Strete atte Lane towards the east, which John Steward deceased had of the King's grant, to the value of 20 marks yearly so that he answer for any surplus etc.

From this it follows that John Steward died in 1408 and that his dwelling house a the time of his death: lay next to the Carmelite Friary, so that he would appropriately be buried there and further it may be inferred that he was in the King's service, under command of the King's brother the Earl of Somerset, then captain of Calais.

Marriage

Sir John Stewart was said to be married to Mary Tallmarche according to the family account. In apparent confirmation the will of John his son includes mention of an aunt Alice Talmache.

Children

Bennet:

The family chronicle reports that Scotangle had three children, namely Sir John, a second son also called John, and a daughter Candora, who married Richard Brooke: BL, Add. MS. 15,644, ff. 44r–44v. In his will Sir John Steward makes bequests to his brother John and Richard Brooke: PROB 11/3/500. The chronicle identifies his brother as citizen and sheriff of London; BL, Add. MS. 15,644, f. 46v. For some details on John Steward, citizen and chandler of London, sheriff of London, 1456–7, see Caroline M. Barron, London in the Later Middle Ages. Government and People 1200–1500 (Oxford: The Boydell Press, 2004), p. 343.

We can summarize:

• Sir John Steward, the main heir
• John Steward, who became a citizen and chandler of London, and eventually sheriff there. H. Stewart writes that she left daughters only "and the bulk of his property to the Tallow Chandlers Company for charitable and other uses".
• Candora, who married Richard Brooke.

Sources

• Michael Bennet "The son of Scotangle: Sir John Steward (d. 1447)" Journal of the Sydney Society for Scottish History. Volume 15 May 2015 https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/JSSSH/article/view/9081/9003
• Steward, H. (1926). Cromwell's Stuart Descent. Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 27. Vol 27, pp. 86-122. https://doi.org/10.5284/1072730.
• Cambridgeshire visitation. https://archive.org/stream/visitationcambr00britgoog#page/n22/mode/2up

The Genealogist, New Series:-

• Vol I, page 150, by Walter Rye reproduces some of the family chronicle from much later https://archive.org/stream/genealogist01selb#page/309/mode/2up
• Vol II, page 34, gives Rye's critique. https://archive.org/stream/genealogist02selb#page/n93/mode/2up
• Vol III, page 111, is online but is a short note by Joseph Bain.
• Vol X, page 18, is a short note by J. H. Round. https://archive.org/stream/genealogist1018selb#page/n57/mode/2up
• Discussions about this pedigree started early, as pointed out in another note by J. H. Round where he proposes who might have created the original story. http://fmg.ac/FMG/Scanned_Sources/TGB/Vol.18%20PDFs/S-3967%20Stewart.pdf
• This note was apparently meant to add to a fuller discussion is given in his book. https://archive.org/stream/studiesinpeerage02rounuoft#page/130/mode/2up

Also see

Use with care:

• Genealogical History of the Stewarts from the Earliest Period of their Authentic History to the Present Times (London: Strahan and Cadell and Davies, 1798), p. 65.
• https://fabpedigree.com/s088/f733858.htm