William Steuart

William Steuart (25 May 1686 – 13 September 1768) of Seatter, Orkney was a Scottish lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1741. An agent of the 2nd Duke of Argyll, he pursued Argyll's interests in Parliament and without, and held a succession of public offices.

Early life Steuart was the only son of Thomas Steuart, commissary and stewart clerk of Orkney, Scotland and his second wife Isobel Young, daughter of Andrew Young of Castle Yards, Orkney. He was educated at King's College, Aberdeen in 1701, becoming an advocate in 1707. He was an agent of the Duke of Argyll and his brother, Lord Ilay and under their patronage he obtained a place as principal clerk of the Scottish Exchequer worth £500 p.a. in 1705. After the Union, the post was abolished by the Act establishing the Scottish exchequer court and he was compensated with a joint post as King's remembrancer of the Scottish Exchequer in 1708 which he held for the rest of his life.

Career Steuart stood as Court candidate for Tain Burghs at the 1710 British general election but was unsuccessful. At the 1713 British general election he was returned as Member of Parliament for Inverness Burghs. Argyll and Ilay had split with Robert Harley and Steuart's return was a hostile act towards ministerial interests, and a reprisal against the Jacobite former member. Steuart followed the Hanoverian line of his patrons and voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele on 18 March. He voted in favour of extending the schism bill to cover Catholic education on 12 May, and was a teller against a Scottish Tory initiative for the investigation of episcopal revenues in Scotland on 3 July. He was appointed secretary to the Prince of Wales for Scotland in 1714.