[2] He was born on 31 July 1743 at Killin manse, the son of the Rev James Stuart and his wife, Elizabeth Drummond.
[3] He was licensed as a Church of Scotland minister by the presbytery of Edinburgh on 27 February 1771, and was presented to the congregation of Arrochar by Sir James Colquhoun in October 1773, and was ordained on 12 May 1774.
[5] For his services as translator he received from the Lords of the Treasury £1,000 in 1820, and the thanks of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland were conveyed to him from the chair, Very Rev Thomas MacKnight, on 28 May 1819.
In 1772, he accompanied Thomas Pennant on his Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, providing the author with information on natural history, the Gaelic language and Highland customs.
[4][7] His brother-in-law was James McLagan, minister of Amulrie in Perthshire, and author of Spiritual views of the divine government 1831.