STEWART, MERVYN (1794-1886) was a son of Sir John Stewart, of Athenree and Balygawley, county Tyrone, Ireland. Entering the Navy as a midshipman, he served in the Dreadnought and Temeraire. Owing to the illness of his brother he retired from the Navy and the war being not yet over, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, to take the necessary course for an army commission. He was appointed captain in the Tyrone militia, from which in 1815 he received his cornetcy in the 21st Light Dragoons. The battle of Waterloo having terminated the Napoleonic wars, Stewart saw service in Cape Colony and India until 1821, when the regiment was disbanded and he retired on half-pay. He married Fanny, daughter of the Rev George Vesey, of Derrabard, Tyrone, and settled down to the life of an Irish gentleman. In 1829 he was high sheriff of the county. He took part in conservative politics and was a grandmaster of the Orange lodges. In 1879 Stewart came to New Zealand with the second expedition organised by his son (G. V. Stewart, q.v.) for the Katikati settlement. He was a justice of the peace here. Stewart died on 13 Sep 1886.

A. B. Stewart; Bay of Plenty Times, 16 Sep 1886

Reference: Volume 2, page 170

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