He was the son of Robert Stewart of Minto, also a Provost of Glasgow, and Janet Murray.
[1] In 1567 he was one of the senior politicians invited to the coronation of King James VI at Stirling.
[2] In May 1570, he held Glasgow Castle against the forces of the Hamilton family, who were supporters of the queen in exile.
[3] Minto wrote to the lawyer Patrick Vaus of Barnbarroch from the Place of Daildowe (Daldowie) on 21 February 1579 mentioning that he was confined to bed with a sore leg, and had hardly been in the garden for 17 weeks.
Their legal business concerned an old loan and reversion of Galloway lands and Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray and her deceased husband and his secretary John Wood.