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History    The Stewarts are traditionally descended from Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, as in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. However, it appears the family are descended from Brittany, acquiring land in England after the Norman Conquest. The family moved to Scotland during the time of  David 1. They were granted estates in East Lothian and Renfrewshrie.

Click here for detailed History of the Stewarts of Appin (Scots Connection Website)

Ardshiel

The estates of the principal Stewarts of Appin have passed mainly to the Downie family. However, there are still many branches of Stewarts remaining in Appin—the families of Ardshiel, Invernahyle, Auchnacrone, Fasnacloich, and Balachulish.  The Stewarts of Ardshiel are known as a sept of the Appin branch.

Port Appin and Ardshiel in Scotland are in the western highlands, south of Fort William and Glencoe, on Loch Linnhe. 

Not far away are the mountains that surround the site of the well documented 'Massacre of Glen Coe', and Glenfinnian, where Prince Charles Edward Stuart raised the Scottish Standard at the start of the doomed Jacobite rebellion. 

Douglas Stewart wrote two poems entitled "Glencoe", about the McDonalds massacre by the Campbells in 1692. One of the surviving McDonalds fled to Appin for refuge. 

Ardshiel is also close to the scene of the infamous Appin Murder, which was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel 'Kidnapped'.

Although the exact birthplace of Rev. Alexander Stewart is not known at present, presumably he was born in this area.
The Stewarts of Melbourne (Rev. Alexander Stewart m. Jean Armstrong) lived in houses called "Appin" in Essendon and "Ardshiel" at Flinders (south of Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay). 

Interestingly, many Stewarts hail from Invernesshire / Rosshire, where the town Killearnan is situated.  

The Stewarts in Victoria and New Zealand