Robert Walter Stewart (1812–1887) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland and who spent much time working in Italy and served as Moderator of the General Assembly 1874/75.

However, he was a noted philanthropist and put both time and money into the promotion of the Presbyterian Church in Italy.

He appears to have had a constant yearning to be in Italy, and made frequent trips there on grounds of ill-health, his ministerial duties at Erskine being then fulfilled by his assistant.

Having had prior warning of the likely importance of the meeting, he set off on a return journey (by ship) immediately on hearing the news.

[3] In 1844 he returned to Italy and settled in Leghorn, where he ran the Bethel Scots Church and the Harbour Mission.

In Italy he founded several Presbyterian churches, mainly aimed at serving the needs of British tourists (and sailors), therefore focussed on the major seaside towns and the larger cities.

He recruited Bartolomeo Malan and Paulo Geymonat to run the church as sympathetic local people.

[8] He married 3 September 1839, Graham (sic) (died 30 June 1897), daughter of Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn and Elizabeth Macdowall, and had issue — Addressing the General Assembly of 1869, Signor Prochet said  : "You claim Dr Stewart as one of yourselves, bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh, and you may well do so, because in the land in which he has been living for thirty years, he has taught not only the Protestants but the Roman Catholics to respect and esteem Scotland and Scottish Protestants.