James Haldane Stewart

(December 22, 1778 – 22 October 1854), was rector of Limpsfield, Surrey, where he lies buried. He was the third son of Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal, 10th Chief of Clan Appin (died 1793) who married (1767) Anne Erving of Boston. Anne Erving was the daughter of Hon. John Erving of Connecticut) loyalist governor of Boston and a member of his majesty's Council for the Province and his wife Anne Shirley herself daughter of William Shirley colonial Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and owner of the Shirley-Eustis House . James Haldane Stewart married Mary Dale (daughter of David Dale).

Early life

James Haldane Stewart was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was educated at Dr Valpy’s school in Reading, Berkshire and Eton College, after which he trained at Lincoln's Inn, for a career in law. Stewart was converted in 1802 through his contact with the Anglican clergyman William Marsh and Thomas Tyndale.

Ordination

Stewart matriculated in 1803 at Exeter College, Oxford and graduated B.A. in 1806 and M.A. in 1810. He was ordained and appointed Curate of Ashampstead in Berkshire. From 1812 to 1828 he officiated at Percy Chapel in London despite suffering a breakdown in health in 1817 which necessitated a visit to the Continent.

He was the first minister of St Bride's Church, Liverpool, (1831) naming the street, Percy Street, after the Percy chapel, also in Percy street, London.

Activities

Stewart was an active supporter of the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews (a Jewish Christian missionary society now known as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People or CMJ), the Church Missionary Society and the Protestant Reformation Society. He built his own chapel in Liverpool and ministered there from 1830 to 1846. Stewart after 1820 was a strong advocate of prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Stewart was Rector of Limpsfield in Surrey during his final years.

Publications

In 1820 The Rev. James Haldane Stewart published “Hints for the General Union of Christians for the Outpouring of the Spirit”.

Sources

• "Memoir of the life of the Rev. James Haldane Stewart, M.A" by his second son Rev David Dale Stewart. Thos. Hatchard, 187, Piccadilly, London. 1857, which ran to two editions
• Dictionary of Evangelical Biography, edited by Donald Lewis (1995)