Name Andrew 2nd | ||
Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochiltree (c.1521-1591) fought for the Scottish Reformation. His daughter married John Knox and he played a part in the defeat of Mary, Queen of Scots at the battle of Langside.
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Biography
Andrew's father, Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale, exchanged his lands and title to become Lord Ochiltree. When resistance to the Catholic religion and the rule of Dowager Queen Mary of Guise began to grow, Andrew was one of the first of the Lords of the Congregation who marched towards Perth in June 1559, and joined up with the rest at Edinburgh by 1 July. Ochiltree was a signatory to the Congregation's letters to Elizabeth I of England and William Cecil on 19 July 1559. John Knox wrote the letters, which state their whole intent was to remove superstition and "maintain the liberty this our country from the tyranny and thraldom of strangers." Cecil replied mentioning the example of the polity of Denmark, and wondering what place the Hamiltons, the former Duke of Châtelherault, the Earl of Arran and Lord David Hamilton might have in their scheme.
On 27 April 1560, Ochiltree was a signature to the "Band of the Scottish Nobility", which pledged to expel the Queen Dowager's French forces and take plain part with the Queen of England's army, which had entered Scotland under the terms of the Congregation's Treaty of Berwick. John Knox wrote in his History of the Reformation in Scotland that Ochiltree was a man more likely to look for peace than fight in the causeway.
Family
Lord Ochiltree married Agnes Cunningham of the Caprington family. His son and heir, Andrew Stewart, known as the Master of Ochiltree, predeceased him in 1578, and he was succeeded by his grandson, Andrew Stuart, 1st Baron Castle Stuart, 3rd Lord Ochiltree. The Master of Ochiltree also had a daughter Mary (died 11 April 1606) who married Sir Roger Aston a favourite of James VI who appointed him Gentleman of the Bedchamber in 1587.
Lord Ochiltree's second son James Stewart became Lord Chancellor of Scotland.
Margaret Stewart
Ochiltree's daughter, Margaret, who was around 16 years old married John Knox in 1563. The English resident diplomat in Scotland, Thomas Randolph noted that she was a near kinswoman of the Duke, meaning James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault (Andrew's mother was the Duke's half-sister). He thought that Cecil would think his report madness. They were married on Palm Sunday after the banns had been proclaimed in St Giles, Edinburgh. Randolph wrote that the Queen was angry at the marriage because Margaret was of the royal "blood and name".