Stewart of Darnley, also known as the Lennox Stewarts, were a notable Scots family, a branch of the Clan Stewart, who provided the English Stuart monarchs with their male-line Stuart descent, after the reunion of their branch with the royal Scottish branch. In 1565 the Darnley branch was re-united with the Royal House of Stewart when Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley married his half-first cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. Despite what their common surname suggests, they were not related closely by virtue of both being Stewarts — being only ninth cousins once removed in the male line. It was rather through their shared grandmother, Margaret Tudor (daughter of King Henry VII of England) that they were related, and which gave both their claims to the English throne. The son of their union James VI of Scots succeeded to the throne of England and the throne of Ireland as James I. Lord Darnley’s claim to the Scottish throne was also not by virtue of his being a Stewart, rather he derived it through his great grandmother, Elizabeth Hamilton, a granddaughter of James II. The later English kings and queens of the House of Stuart, from James I and Charles I onwards, were more properly members of the Stewart of Darnley branch, and all drew upon their feudal heritage in Lennox. Origins and name The Stewarts of Darnley were descended from Sir John Stewart (d. 1298), the second son of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland. Their name is derived from Derneley, a barony in Eastwood parish, Renfrewshire. It was located east of Barrhead, present day Darnley, within the city of Glasgow. In 1356, Robert Stewart, High Steward of Scotland, granted the barony to Sir John Stewart, the eldest son of Sir Alan Stewart of Dreghorn. Like the Royal Stewarts, the Stewarts of Darnley used both the 'Stuart' and the 'Stewart' spelling of their surname. Ancestors Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland Sir John Stewart (d.1298) Alan Stewart of Dreghorn (d.1333) Alexander Stewart of Darnley (d.1374) Alexander Stewart of Darnley (d.1404) John Stewart of Darnley (d.1429) Alan Stewart of Darnley (d.1439) Lordship of Aubigny Sir John Stewart of Darnley (d. 1429) fought in the Hundred Years' War under his namesake and distant cousin John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan, in the army of Charles VII of France. For his services, he was rewarded with the lands of Aubigny-sur-Nère and Concressault, which