From "Montreal History and Gazeteer to
the year 1892"
By Rev. J. Douglas Borthwick, John Lovell
& Son, Montreal 1892
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This name figures in the annals of old Montreal. He must have come to the city about the time of the American War of Independence. He was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. He died December 1787*, at 64* years of age. He left a widow named Isabella Cowan, who afterwards married Mr.William Hunter. One of the daughters of this marriage afterwards became the wife of the late Sheriff Boston, and was married to him in 1814. She died in 1821. From: "A History of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, St. Gabriel Street,
Montreal"
William Stewart, whose name appears on the list of the list of
the trustees [of St.Gabriel Street Church],
was also a merchant in the city. He is said to have been a native of Glasgow,
Scotland, and came to Canada to push his fortune, while still a young man.
Like all the rest of the trustees, he contributed ten guineas to the building
fund of the Church. He does not seem to have taken a prominent part in
the work of the congregation afterwards. He died on the 3rd of December,
1797*, aged 44*
years. His widow, Isabella Cowan, married
William Hunter, a co-trustee, and one of his
daughters, Isabella Stewart, was the first
wife of the late Sheriff Boston, to
whom she was married in 1814. She died in 1821. Another daughter, Jane
Stewart, born in 1797, never married, and lived with Mr. J.S.
Hunter's family until her death a few years ago. William Stewart
owned pew no. 17 in the church.
* Well, it appears that these two biographies give different dates of death and therefore different ages at death. Looking at the non-Catholic Montreal BMD index, there are two "William Stewart" burials in 1797 and none in 1787. Considering the building subscription fund for the St. Gabriel Street Church was founded in 1791, and William Stewart was a subsriber, we can pretty much rule out the 1787 death date. To discover age at death (and therefore approx. birth date), the 2 Stewart death records that should be checked are from St. Gabriel Presbyterian page f 19v, and Christ Anglican, page f 6. |