Duncan Stewart was 10th Chief of the Clan Stewart of Appin

Clan Stewart of Appin

Clan Stewart of Appin is a west highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been considered a distinct clan since the 15th century. They are descended from Sir James Stewart of Perston, who was himself the grandson of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland...

 and 6th of Ardsheal, and a friend of James Boswell

James Boswell

James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....

. He was the eldest surviving son of Charles Stewart, 5th of Ardsheal, the Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 leader of the Clan at the Battle of Culloden

Battle of Culloden

The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...

, 16 April 1746, during the Jacobite Rising of 1745

Jacobite Rising of 1745

The Jacobite rising of 1745, often referred to as "The 'Forty-Five," was the attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession when most of the British Army was on the European continent...

 and Isabel Haldane

Clan Haldane

Clan Haldane is a Lowland Scottish clan.- Origins of the Haldanes of Gleneagles :[The following text is copied verbatim from The Haldanes of Gleneagles, General Sir J. Aylmer L. Haldane, 1929, William Blackwood & Sons, Ltd., London and Edinburgh, which book is in the Public Domain since 2004...

 of Lanrick

Lanrick Castle

Lanrick Castle was a late 18th-century country house near Doune in central Scotland. It was demolished in 2002 despite being protected as a category B listed building. It was located on the south bank of the River Teith, in Stirling council area.-History:...

 daughter of John Haldane 2nd of Lanrick.

Stewart was born at Ardsheal from where his father Charles Stewart(of Ardsheal)  had fled to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, dying at Sens

Sens

Sens is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.Sens is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is crossed by the Yonne and the Vanne, which empties into the Yonne here.-History:...

, 15 March, 1757, having escaped from Scotland in 1746. After the battle of Culloden he was sentenced to death in absentia

In absentia

In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...

 and all his estates had been confiscated by the government.

Duncan Stewart became collector of customs in New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

 and later in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

. During the American War of Independence Stewart supported the government against the rebels and was rewarded for his loyalty by having the estates in Ardsheal, Scotland returned to him in 1769 that had been confiscated from his father.

Stewart is remembered best for his portrait by John Singleton Copley

John Singleton Copley

John Singleton Copley was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects...

 held by the National Gallery of Scotland

National Gallery of Scotland

The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens...

 and for his friendship and travels with James Boswell. Stewart settled back in Scotland on his returned estates where he inherited the chieftainship of the Clan of Appin on the death of his cousin, Dugald Stewart, 9th of Appin

Stewart married Anne Erving daughter of the Hon. John Erving, loyalist Governor of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, and a member of His Majesty's Council for the Province and his wife Anne Shirley of Shirley-Eustis House

Shirley-Eustis House

The Shirley-Eustis House is a historic house located at 145 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark....

 and daughter of William Shirley

William Shirley

William Shirley was a British colonial administrator who served twice as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and as Governor of the Bahamas in the 1760s...

 Governor of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Duncan Stewart and Anne Erving had 10 children including the prelate James Haldane Stewart

James Haldane Stewart

James Haldane Stewart , was rector of Limpsfield, Surrey, where he lies buried.He was the third son of Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal , 10th Chief of Clan Appin who married Anne Erving of Boston. Anne Erving was the daughter of Hon...

. (Burke's Landed Gentry 18th Edn Vol III 1972)