John Stuart

John Stuart (1813–1877) was a Scottish antiquarian and genealogist.

Life

Stuart was born in November 1813 at Forgue, Aberdeenshire, where his father had a small farm. He was educated at Aberdeen University, and in 1836 became a member of the Aberdeen Society of Advocates. In 1853 he was appointed one of the official searchers of records in the Register House, Edinburgh, and in 1873 became principal keeper of the register of deeds. In 1854 he was appointed secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and was central to its operation.

In 1839, along with Joseph Robertson (1810–1866) and Cosmo Innes, he joined the 'Spalding Club,' of which he acted as secretary till the close of its operations in 1870. Of the thirty-eight quarto volumes issued by the club, fourteen were produced under Stuart's editorship. Prominent among these were the two large folios on The Sculptured Stones of Scotland, published in 1856 and 1867, and regarded by antiquarians as one of their most important books of reference. Another of the Spalding volumes is The Book of Deer, published in 1869, a reproduction by Stuart of a manuscript copy of the Gospels which belonged to the abbey of Deer—of great historical and linguistic value, especially with regard to the Celtic history of Scotland. At the final meeting, on 23 Dec. 1870, Stuart was presented by the club with a piece of plate and his portrait, the work of Mr. (now Sir) George Reid.

In 1866 the university of Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He was elected an honorary member of the Royal Archaeological Institute and of the Society of Antiquaries of Zurich and the Assemblea di Storia Patria in Palermo.

He lived at Newmills in Currie on the southern edge of Edinburgh. He was twice married, and was survived by his second wife and two daughters of the first marriage. Stuart's love of study lay for the most part within a limited range. In the more general bearings of archaeology he took little interest, but in the deciphering of records and illustrations he did yeoman service.

A brieffe narration of the services done to three noble ladyes, by Gilbert Blakhal, 1844. Selections from the Records of the Kirk Session, Presbytery, and Synod of Aberdeen from 1562 to 1681, 1846. Memoir of the late A. H. Rhind of Sibster, Edinburgh, 1864, 8vo. A biographical sketch of Alexander Henry Rhind.