He was born at Castletown in
the Mearns in 1751, the second son of Dr John Stuart of Inchbreck (b.1744) and his first wife, Elizabeth Lawson. The family estate was Inchbreck House near
Glenbervie. He was educated at Glenbervie then
Arbuthnott school. His older brother, Dr David Stuart, initially inherited the Inchbreck estate. In 1766 he began to study law at Aberdeen University. He continued this for several years including an apprenticeship as a lawyer in
Edinburgh. However, an aggravated knee injury plagued him, and around 1771 the leg had to be amputated. He thereafter diverted his interest from Law to Divinity and returned to
Aberdeen University to retrain. He initially intended to join the
Church of Scotland as a minister. He was licensed to preach in 1775. He originally was minister of
Fordoun. He also preached in the neighbouring parishes of
Kinneff,
Arbuthnott and
Dunottar. In 1782 he became
Professor of Greek at
Marischal College in Aberdeen in place of the late Prof William Kennedy. In 1802 he was involved in the private prosecution of officials who had shot and killed several persons during a riot on Castle Street on the occasion of the King's birthday (4 June). The prosecution was made against the individual soldiers firing (rather than their commanding officer, as would now be the more logical subject). The prosecution was unsuccessful but Prof Stuart published a 200-page summary to at least demonstrate to the public that they had tried to address the charges. In 1818 he brought in Alexander Leith Ross to take over some of his lecturing duties. He retired fully in 1820. He died at his Aberdeen residence, 82 Broad Street on 27 August 1827. ==Family==