William Steuart (Scottish politician)
William Steuart (25 May 1686 – 13 September 1768) of Seatter, Orkney was a Scottish lawyer and politician. An agent of the 2nd Duke of Argyll, he pursued Argyll's interests in Parliament and without, and held a succession of public offices.[1]
He was the only son of Thomas Steuart, commissary and stewart clerk of Orkney, Scotland and was educated at King's College, Aberdeen in 1701, becoming an advocate in 1707.
He was principal clerk of the Scottish Exchequer (1705-08), joint King’s remembrancer of the Scottish Exchequer from 1708 to his death, secretary to the Prince of Wales for Scotland (1714-27), paymaster of pensions (1731-42) and by 1739 overseer of the King’s swans. He was alos a director of the East India Company from 1716 to 1719.
As the confidential agent of the Duke of Argyll he sat in the British Parliament in the Duke's interest for 28 years, sitting from 1713 to 1722 for Inverness Burghs, from 1722 to 1734 for Ayr Burghs and from 1734 to 1741 for Elgin Burghs.
He married, in 1741, Frances, the daughter of Dr. George Cheyne of Bath but had no children.
References
- ^ Simpson, J. M. (1970). R. Sedgwick (ed.). "STEUART, William (1686-1768), of Weyland and Seatter, Orkney". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715–1754. Boydell and Brewer. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
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- 1686 births
- 1768 deaths
- People from Orkney
- Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
- Scottish lawyers
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
- British MPs 1713–15
- British MPs 1715–22
- British MPs 1722–27
- British MPs 1727–34
- British MPs 1734–41
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