Stewartson

This is a very interesting name whose origins are 'Not Proven'. We thought that the name was originally Scottish because Black's famous Surnames of Scotland claims that it is from the Orkney Islands, but that it is not a patronymic of the famous surname Stewart. This clan, which in fact originated in England as Steward, provided the monarchs of Scotland for several centuries, and would seem to be the obvious choice. Black's dictionary claims origination from the early Norse name 'Sigurdson' of the pre 9th century, and spellings from this source are said to include Schewartson, Stewartson, and Shurie. We are very uncertai. Our reseach suggests that the name is not Scottish at all, but English and a derivation of the earlier Steward(son). It is true that surnames over the centuries have often undergone some amazing changes as for instance as an example the surname MacAlastair to Elster and Ulster, but we cannot find any definite proof in regard to this name before the early 19th century. In fact although Stewart itself is a popular surname in the Orkneys, there does not seem to be any record of Stewartson or Shurie at all. In addition examples of the surname spelling are very rare. It does not appear in the records of Edinburgh, Glasgow, or in Ireland Belfast and Dublin, which for a name of Celtic origin is very strange. What is even stranger is that the name is well recorded in the city of London. The earliest example may be Anne Stewardson at St James Clerkenwell, on August 5th 1600, and two centuries later we have Edward Stewartson. He seems to have previously been called Stewardson. His and the first recording as Stewartson, being at St. Ann's Blackfriars, on August 19th 1821.