James Steuart (1608–1681)

James Steuart of Coltness
Portrait of Steuart by David Scougall (c. 1658)
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
In office 1658–1659
Preceded by	Sir Andrew Ramsay, Lord Abbotshall
Succeeded by	Robert Murray
Commissioner for Edinburgh
In office 1649–1650
Preceded by	Sir John Smyth
Succeeded by	Samuel Desborrow
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
In office 1648–1649
Preceded by	Sir Archibald Tod
Succeeded by	Sir Archibald Tod
Personal details
Born	1608
Died	31 March 1681
Nationality	Scottish
Spouse(s)	Anne Hope (m. 1630; her death 1646) Marion McCulloch Elliott (m. 1648)
Children	Sir James Steuart Sir Robert Steuart, Bt.
Parents	James Steuart Marion Carmichael
Occupation	Merchant, banker, landowner, politician

Sir James Steuart of Coltness (1608 – 31 March 1681) was a Scottish merchant, banker, landowner, politician and Covenanter.

Steuart was the second son of Marion Carmichael and James Steuart (1575–1607), of Allanton, Lanarkshire, and was born posthumously.

He was a merchant and banker in Edinburgh, acquired a large fortune, then acquired the estates of Kirkfield (from Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan) and Coldness (from Sir John Hamilton of Edston), both in Lanarkshire, in 1653.

Steuart served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1649, Commissioner for Edinburgh to the Parliament of Scotland from 1649 to 1650, and Lord Provost again in 1659. For a period of time, he was the Collector of Excise and Accountant-General for the Scottish Army.

At the Restoration he was dismissed as a Covenanter. After confinement in Edinburgh Castle, Steuart was sent to Dundee as a prisoner. He was granted a pardon in 1670.

In 1630, he married Anne Hope (d. 1646), daughter of Henry Hope and niece of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall. Together, they had:

In 1648, two years after Anne's death, Steuart married Marion McCulloch Elliott (d. 1690), widow of Sir John Elliott, and only daughter and heiress of David McCulloch, of Goodtrees.

Sir James Steuart' died on 31 March 1681.