Charles Stuart of Dunearn facts for kids
Charles Stuart of Dunearn (1745–1826) was a Scottish minister who later became a doctor. He helped start the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was also the President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
Life of Charles Stuart
Charles Stuart was born in 1745 at Dunearn House, near Burntisland in Fife, Scotland. His father was James Stuart of Binend, who later became the Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
He first trained to be a minister for the Church of Scotland. He became a minister at Cramond Kirk in 1773. However, he left Cramond in 1776. Later, in 1781, he briefly started his own independent church in Edinburgh.
In 1777, he inherited his father's estates, which were called Dunearn and Binend.
After leaving the ministry, Charles Stuart decided to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He became a doctor in 1781. He lived and worked as a doctor from 18 Nicolson Street in Edinburgh.
In 1783, he was one of the people who helped create the Royal Society of Edinburgh. This is a famous society that promotes learning and science in Scotland.
From 1798 to 1800, he was the editor of a magazine called the Edinburgh Quarterly Review. He also helped manage the Edinburgh Orphan Hospital, which cared for children without parents.
Charles Stuart became a very popular and successful doctor. In 1806, he was chosen to be the President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. This was a very important position for a doctor in Scotland.
He passed away at his home in George Square, Edinburgh on May 28, 1826. He was buried with his parents in Greyfriars Kirkyard. His family's tomb is easy to spot against the eastern wall of the graveyard.
Family of Charles Stuart
In 1773, Charles Stuart married Mary Erskine. Her father was Reverend John Erskine, a minister at Greyfriars Kirk. Charles and Mary had at least eight children.
Their most well-known child was James Stuart (1775-1849), who became a famous politician. Their daughter Jean Stuart married Thomas Hogg.
Another daughter, Alison Charles, married John Wilson Carmichael. She lived in the Caribbean islands of St Vincent and Trinidad in the 1820s. She wrote a book in 1833 about her experiences living there.
Charles Stuart's first wife, Mary, died in 1817. He then married Margaret Parlane, whose father was a surgeon from Glasgow. Margaret passed away in 1821, and they did not have any children together.
