Sir Henry Seton Steuart

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

LLD (''né'' Steuart; 20 October 1759 – 11 March 1836) was a Scottish landowner, agricultural improver, soldier and classical scholar.

Biography

He was born Henry Steuart at Allanton House in

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

in 1759, the son of Margaret Steuart-Barclay of Collairnie and her husband, James Steuart, 10th Laird of Allanton. They were descended from Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll. He was educated at the

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

then studied in

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in Germany (1775). In 1778 he was commissioned into the

13th Light Dragoons The 13th Hussars (previously the 13th Light Dragoons) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated ...

. In 1781 he moved to the

10th Light Dragoons The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...

. He resigned his commission in 1787. In 1799 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

Alexander Fraser Tytler Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee FRSE (15 October 17475 January 1813) was a Scottish advocate, judge, writer, and historian who was a Professor of Universal History and of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. L ...

Andrew Dalzell Andrew Dalzell (sometimes shown as Andrew Dalzel or Andrew Dalziel) FRSE (1742–1806) was a Scottish scholar, Professor of Classics (Edinburgh), Professor of Greek at the University of Edinburgh, and prominent figure during the Scottish Enligh ...

and

Thomas Charles Hope Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Scottish physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density at ...

. In 1806 the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD). In 1814 he was created Baronet of Allanton.

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

visited him at Allanton to see his land improvements in January 1829. He died at Allanton in 1836 and was buried nearby in

Cambusnethan Cambusnethan is a historic parish in North Lanarkshire in Scotland. The largest settlement in the parish is Wishaw, and Cambusnethan now appears on maps as a village almost contiguous with Wishaw. The village is approximately long, straddling ...

Churchyard.

Family

In 1787 he married Lillian Seton, daughter of

Hugh Seton Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

of Touch House in

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

(sometimes known as Touch-Seton). He was thereafter known as Henry Seton Steuart. He rebuilt Allanton House in the year of his marriage. They had one daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Steuart (1790-1866). She married Reginald Ranald Macdonald, from 1836 known as Sir Reginald Ranald Seton-Steuart. Sir Reginald was created 2nd Baronet through the marriage.

Publications

*''The Planter's Guide'' (1828) *''A History of the Rebellion of 1745'' (unfinished - manuscript passed to Robert Chambers)

Artistic recognition

He was portrayed by Edward Burton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steuart, Henry Seton 1759 births 1836 deaths People from Lanarkshire Scottish agriculturalists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom