Sir John Stewart of the Darien Expedition

SIR JOHN STEWART

Sir John Stewart, here treated, is identified in Glasghu Facies as the great-grandson of Sir Matthew Stewart of Minto The names of his father and grandfather are not mentioned in this publication. Glasghu Facies

Biographical Summary from 'Glasghu Facies'

Of the two immediate Successors of Sir Matthew little is known the last of the line was his great grandson Sir John who embarked in that unfortunate Adventure the Darien Expedition and who died upon the outward Voyage in 1697. For almost two centuries the members of this Family had held a high position among the Citizens of Glasgow nearly as long a period has elapsed since the star of their destiny began to grow pale and now as things go in this mutable world it is much to say that we still have amongst us the veritable Building which received them in life and the original Monument that was reared over their ashes May the moral of their Family Motto never be loss sight of Sola juvat virtus. Glasghu Facies

The Darien Scheme

The colonization project that became known as the Darien Scheme or Darien Disaster[1] was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called 'Caledonia' on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s. From the outset, the undertaking was beset by poor planning and provision, weak leadership, lack of demand for trade goods, devastating epidemics of disease and increasing shortage of food; it was finally abandoned after a siege by Spanish forces in April, 1700. As the Darien company was backed by about a quarter of the money circulating in Scotland, its failure left the nobles and landowners – who had suffered a run of bad harvests – almost completely ruined and was an important factor in weakening their resistance to the Act of Union (finally consummated in 1707). Although the scheme failed, it has been seen as marking the beginning of the country's transformation into a modern nation oriented toward business. Within a generation, Scotland had one of the most advanced commercial cultures in the world. The Darien Scheme
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Genealogy

Glasghu Facies: A View of the City of Glasgow; Or, An Account of Its Origin, Rise, and Progress, with a More Particular Description Thereof Than Has Been Hitherto Known