John Stewart (minister)
John Stewart of Bredochmilne was a 17th‑century Scottish Presbyterian minister. He studied at King’s College, Aberdeen, and graduated in 1649. He was licensed as a minister on 5 April 1654 in the Presbytery of Deer, Synod of Aberdeen, and on 10 April 1655 he was admitted to Crimond by the Protesting Presbytery, with his base likely near Innes House.
When the rule of bishops (Prelacy) was reintroduced, Stewart was removed for nonconformity. In 1657 the Synod of Aberdeen called him “an unparalleled intruder” and ordered him to stop; they deposed him in October 1658. The Protesters did not remove him because they believed him to be a godly and capable man, but the Synod finally removed him on 20 April 1660.
In 1685 he was brought before a Committee of Council at Elgin, accused of holding illegal conventicles, withdrawing from ordinances, preaching seditious doctrines, plotting against the government, and other offences. On 2 February 1685 he testified that he had not run his own parish for eighteen or nineteen years and had preached in his family and in private houses; he denied the other charges and admitted performing a marriage between Alexander Campbell and Lilias Dunbar. Because of this admission and his refusal to take the oath of allegiance, he was banished from the realm on 4 February 1685 and sent to the Tolbooth in Edinburgh; he later spent time in the Bass prison until released on 21 June 1686.
After the Restoration, he became minister at Elgin in 1687 and at Urquhart after 10 May 1691. He married Christian Arbuthnot, sister of John Arbuthnot of Cairngall, Longside, and they had daughters, including Margaret (who married Alexander Forbes, minister of Dyke) and Elizabeth. John Stewart died on 6 May 1692.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:46 (CET).