STUART, JOHN [SSNE 1645]

Surname

STUART, STEWART till HEDENLUNDA

First name

JOHN, HANS

Text source

John (known as Hans in Sweden) Stuart (c.1550-1618), was born in Scotland before 1550. He was the eldest son of John Stuart of Ochiltree and his wife Agneta Forbes, the daughter of Robert Forbes and Anna Sinclair. His brother, Andrew (or Anders) [SSNE 1646], also entered Swedish service and became a colonel. They were the first Stuarts known to have emigrated to Sweden in the sixteenth century. There is often confusion about which Stuart held which rank. Stuart's father is believed to have accompanied Mary Queen of Scots to France in the 1550s, serving there as a colonel for Francis II of France until his return to Scotland in 1560.

John Stuart is believed to have gained his education in France, visiting Germany and other European countries on his travels. Before 1564 he had returned to Scotland as that year he sailed from Edinburgh toward Danzig. However the ship he was on was captured by Danes, who were embroiled in the Nordic Seven Years' War against Sweden. John Stuart was imprisoned in Varberg castle (then held by the Danes) on suspicion of wanting to enter Swedish military service. Swedish forces seiged and seized Varberg castle September 1565, and all the Scottish troops in the Danish army were forcibly placed under Swedish command.

John Stuart was removed from Danish imprisonment, stripped of his moneys by Swedish troops, and then moved to a prison in Uppsala, presumably as the Swedes were not certain about his status. Through the efforts of other Scottish officers already in Swedish service Johnn Stuart was finally released. The exact course of events is not clear but during the reign of King Erik XIV (1560-1568) John Stuart served as master of horse.

He must then have served King Johan III (1569-1592), and it was during this period that John Stuart was ennobled, in 1579. Stuart provided evidence of his noble origins in a letter to king Johan III and his brother Duke Karl, dated 12 October 1579 and signed Earl Collins of Ergadie, the Scottish Chancellor, Earl Robert Stuart of Levenox and Andrew Stuart of Ochiltree, (his brother?). Stuart obtained yet another letter dated 14 June 1585 from king James VI which allowed him to use the family coat of arms at the request of the Earl of Arran, James Stuart.

John Stuart then entered the Duke Karl of Södermanland's service, who ruled Sweden first as regent then king 1599-1611 (crowned Karl IX in 1604). Indeed, Stuart was noted as Karl IX's "gentleman of the bedchamber" in 1604, the year of the coronation. Karl had already endowed Stuart with land in Södermanland in 1579 (when Karl was still Duke of Södermanland), which Stuart exchanged for land in Hedenlunda in 1582, and again in 1610 for rights of inheritance for himself, his wife and his male descendants. Hedenlunda remained the Stuart family seat in Sweden for the next two centuries.

It is unknown exactly when Stuart married Brita Eriksdotter Soop, both of whose parents were from noble Swedish stock. They had five children, four of which outlived John Stuart including two very interesting daughters, Marta [SSNE 6433] and Anna [SSNE 6432]. Both of his sons, Anders the younger [SSNE 1647] and David [SSNE 7696] became gentlemen of the chamber for king Gustav II Adolf. Stuart's widow, Brita Ericsdotter, died in March 1622 and they were both buried in Vadsbro church. Brita Soop died in 1622.

John Stuart must have been a fair age when he became the colonel of a regiment he levied in Scotland. By 1609 Stuart was not only the quartermaster-general and the war commissioner-general, but also the muster-general (some sources state Inspector General) of all the foreign soldiers in Sweden. John Stuart was sent to Russia as a Swedish envoy during the Swedish campaign there, but after that little is known of him.

John Stuart died in October 1618. He is buried in Vadsbro church.

The much later (18th century) General of Fortifications, Carl Magnus Stuart, was a direct descendant.

Sources: Riksarkivets ämnessamlingar. Personhistoria https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0073910_00265#?c=&m=&s=&cv=264&xywh=2686%2C427%2C3410%2C1870

https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0073910_00276#?c=&m=&s=&cv=275&xywh=3019%2C789%2C3410%2C1870

Svenska Adelns Attartavlor, vol. 8, pp.782-783; J. Berg and B. Lagercrantz, Scots in Sweden, (Stockholm, 1962), pp.20-21; T. Fischer, The Scots in Sweden, (Edinburgh, 1907), p.51; G.E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland and Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, vol. x, (1945); J. Balfour-Paul and R. Douglas, The Scots Peerage, vol. vi, (1909); H. Marryat, One Year in Sweden, including a visit to the isle of Gotland (London, 1862), pp.480-1.

Service record

SWEDEN, SWEDISH ARMY

Departed 1603-12-31, as CAVALRY MASTER

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

SWEDEN, SWEDISH COURT

Departed 1608-12-31

Capacity COURT GENTLEMAN, purpose CIVIL SERVICE

SWEDEN, SWEDISH ARMY

Departed 1618-02-28, as COLONEL

Capacity INSPECTOR GENERAL, purpose MILITARY

SWEDEN, RUSSIA

Departed 1611-12-31

Capacity ENVOY, purpose DIPLOMACY