Margaret Stewart, Mistress of Ochiltree


Margaret Stewart, Mistress of Ochiltree was a courtier in the household of Anne of Denmark and looked after her children Prince Henry, Princess Elizabeth, and Charles I of England
Margaret was the daughter of Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven and Janet Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl and Lady Janet Campbell.
Her three siblings were; Henry Stewart, 2nd Lord Methven, Dorothea Stewart, Countess of Gowrie, and Joan Stewart, Countess of Argyll.
Margaret Stewart was called the "Mistress of Ochiltree" after she married Andrew Stewart, Master of Ochiltree in 1567, eldest son of Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochiltree and Agnes Cunningham. After his death in 1578 she married Uchtred Macdowall of Garthland, but was still called, and signed her name, "Margaret, Mistress of Ochiltree". Margaret Stewart the second wife of the minister John Knox, was her sister in law.
She had a long running dispute with Lord Robert Stewart, commendator of Whithorn over Cruggleton Castle and its lands. In August 1579 she was awarded the goods of John Douglas, chamberlain of Whithorn, who refused to surrender the castle to her.
She was friendly with Patrick Vaus of Barnbarroch, and wrote to him in 1583 calling him "brother", and asking him to pay her debt to an Edinburgh tailor, Nicoll Spens. She called him "brother" as a member of the extended family of Janet Stewart, daughter of the Earl of Atholl, who had married four times, so making Margaret Stewart a relative of the Ruthvens, the Kennedys of Girvanmains, and the Gordons of Sutherland.
On 1 February 1591 she was listed as a member of the household of Anne of Denmark with her daughters Mary, Martha, and Jean. Margaret had a male and a female servant and a page.
On 11 October 1603 Margaret Stewart was given a royal pension of 300 and later 700 merks annually for her service to Anne of Denmark and her children from 1590 to 1603, and especially for looking after Lady Margaret, Duke Robert, and Prince Charles before he was put in the keeping of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline.

Family

Her children formed links at court, especially as ladies in waiting in the household of Anne of Denmark, where she was the senior lady in waiting. Her second son Josias Stewart sided with the rebel Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, but was pardoned for his treason. Her children were;