William Stewart

Scottish (Lanarkshire) and English: originally an occupational name for an administrative official of an estate, from Middle English stiward, Old English stigweard, stīweard, a compound of stig ‘house(hold)’ + weard ‘guardian’. In the Anglo-Saxon period this title was used of an officer controlling the domestic affairs of a household, especially of the royal household; after the Norman Conquest it was also used more widely as the native equivalent of Seneschal, for the steward of a manor or manager of an estate. In Scotland the term was also used of a magistrate originally appointed by the king to administer crown lands, forming a stewartry.

History: Stuart or Stewart is the surname of one of the great families of Scotland, the royal family of Scotland from the 14th century, and of England from 1603, when James VI of Scotland acceded to the English throne as James I. There were many minor branches of the family left in Britain after the flight of James II in 1688, but not every bearer of the surname can claim relationship with the royal house, even in Scotland. Every great house in medieval England and Scotland had its steward, and in many cases the office gave rise to a hereditary surname. The fall of the house of Stuart in Britain, conversely, led to the establishment of several highly placed branches bearing this surname in continental Europe, which are in most cases related to the old Scottish royal family.