[citation needed] Stewart was instrumental in the introduction of a scheme involving Anglican laypeople within a diocesan synod system, necessitated by the arguments within the government regarding the clergy reserves and the potential elimination of clerical salaries and stipends coming on behalf of government money from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

[5] He "was said to have been somewhat ungainly and at times lacking in political and business sense" but he was "deep in his religious faith, asceticism, generosity of spirit and purse, and his genuine care for the spiritual interests of pioneer immigrants and native Indians (Indigenous)".

Stewart is historically remembered as "earning the affection of his clergy and people" and as having "a secure place among the builders of the (various) church(es) of Canada".

"[6] Born in London, England, the third surviving son of John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway and his second wife, Anne Dashwood, Stewart was a member of Corpus Christi College, Oxford when he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1795 and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford when this matured to a Master of Arts in 1799.

He soon moved to Saint-Armand and helped to build Trinity Church, Frelighsburg, the first regular place of Anglican worship in the Eastern Townships.

[7] Stewart published a 20-page book in 1815 after "seven years of intense labour and close observation of the [eastern] townships" called A short view of the present state of the Eastern Townships in the Province of Lower Canada, Bordering on the Line 54° with Hints for their Improvement, which "intended to provide prospective immigrants with a concise description of the climate, topography, economy, and population of the region."