Stewart Family History

Scottish (Lanarkshire) and English: originally an occupational name for an administrative official of an estate from Middle English stiward Old English stigweard stīweard a compound of stig ‘house(hold)’ + weard ‘guardian’. In the Anglo-Saxon period this title was used of an officer controlling the domestic affairs of a household especially of the royal household;

after the Norman Conquest it was also used more widely as the native equivalent of Seneschal for the steward of a manor or manager of an estate. In Scotland the term was also used of a magistrate originally appointed by the king to administer crown lands forming a stewartry.