OCHILTREE, Lord Stewart of, a title (dormant) in the peerage of Scotland, the first possessor of which was Andrew Stewart, third Lord Avandale, who, having exchanged his lordship of Avandale, with Sir James Hamilton of Fynnart, for the barony of Ochiltree in Ayrshire, the regent Arran, with consent of the Estates, ordained him to be called Lord Stewart of Ochiltree, 15th March, 1543. He died in 1548. By his wife, Lady Margaret Hamilton, only child by his first wife, of James, first earl of Arran, he had a son, Andrew, second Lord Ochiltree, commonly called the good Lord Ochiltree, the father-in-law of John Knox. He was one of the lords of the congregation, and a principal actor in all the transactions and negotiations with the queen regent, Mary of Guise, in 1559-60, and afterwards in all the proceedings of the Reformers in the reign of Queen Mary. When Knox was called before the queen, Lord Ochiltree accompanied him to the palace of Holyrood. He opposed the queen’s marriage with Lord Darnley, and declared openly that he would never consent that any of the popish faction should be king of Scotland. After “the Chase-about Raid,” in which he was actively engaged, he took refuge in England, with the Lord James Stewart, afterwards the regent Moray, and the others. At the battle of Langside, where he fought against Queen Mary, he was wounded by the Lord Herries. He had five sons and two daughters.
His eldest son, Andrew, master of Ochiltree, died before 10th September 1578, leaving two sons and six daughters. His lordship’s second son, Captain James Stewart of Bothwellmuir, was the unworthy favourite of James VI., the usurper of the titles and estates of the earl of Arran, and lord-high-chancellor of Scotland. The third son, Sir James Stewart of Monkton, was killed in Blackfriars-wynd, Edinburgh, 30th January 1588, by Francis, earl of Bothwell.

Andrew, the elder of the two sons of the master of Ochiltree, succeeded his grandfather as third Lord Ochiltree. He was a gentleman of the bedchamber to James VI., general of the ordnance, governor of Edinburgh castle, and a privy councilor. He sold the lordship of Ochiltree to his cousin, Sir James Stewart of Killeith, eldest son of the usurping earl of Arran, and resigned his title in this favour in 1615. Andrew Stewart, formerly Lord Ochiltree, was created Lord Castle Stuart, in the peerage of Ireland, by patent, dated 7th November 1619. He died in 1632, leaving three sons, the youngest of whom, the Hon. Colonel Robert Stewart, carried on the line of succession.

Sir James Stewart of Killeith, fourth Lord Ochiltree, having, in 1631, from the hereditary enmity which he bore to the house of Hamilton, brought a charge of treason against the marquis of Hamilton, alleging that with the troops raised by him for the service of Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, in aid of the elector-palatine, he intended to assert his right to the Scottish crown, was tried for leasing-making, found guilty, and sentenced to imprisonment for life in the castle of Blackness. He remained there for more than twenty years, and was released in 1652 by the English, after the battle of Worcester. He died in 1659. He was twice married. By his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Uchtred Macdowall of Garthland, he had a son, who predeceased him, leaving a son, William, fifth Lord Ochiltree, a young nobleman of great promise, who died in his 16th year, while attending the university of Edinburgh, 12th February 1675. By his second wife, Mary Livingston, the fourth Lord Ochiltree had a son and three daughters. The title of Lord Ochiltree has been dormant since 1675.

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Andrew Thomas Stewart of Stewart Hall, county Tyrone, the great-great-grandson of the Hon. Colonel Robert Stewart above mentioned, at the election of a Scots representative peer, 26th October 1768, appeared and answered to the title of Lord Ochiltree, but the clerks refusing to receive his vote, he took a protest against them. In 1774 he presented to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland a petition claiming the title of Lord Castle Stuart, which had been dormant since 1684. It was referred to the Irish house of peers, and their lordships, on 24th May 1774, declared that he had fully proved his right to the same. He voted as Lord Ochiltree at the election of Scots peers, 24th July 1790, but it was decided in a committee of privileges of the house of lords, 16th April 1793, that he had not made out his right. He was created Viscount Stuart in 1793, and earl of Castle Stuart, 29th December 1800, and died 20th August 1809, leaving issue. This family have adopted the spelling of Stuart, as being a branch of the royal house of that name, descended from the regent duke of Albany. The possessor of the title of earl of Castle Stuart is also a baronet of Nova Scotia, of date 1637.