Robert Strother Stewart (16 May 1878 – 15 November 1954) was an English lawyer, colonial judge and Liberal Party politician. Family and education Stewart was the son of the Reverend Robert Stewart MA, a Presbyterian minister from Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated privately and then attended the University of Durham where he was a member of both Hatfield and Armstrong colleges. He gained MA, B.Litt and Bachelor of Civil Law degrees. He was a Gladstone Prizeman of the University and President of the Union. He also attended Westminster College, Cambridge, the theological college for the Presbyterian Church. In 1913 he married Ida Lillie Taylor and they had two sons. Career United Kingdom Stewart went in for the law. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1905. He later qualified as a barrister, was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1919 and practised on the North-Eastern Circuit. In 1945 he became one of the Chairmen of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals under the Pensions Tribunals Act, 1943. The Tribunals considered claims for pensions by members of the armed services and war-injured civilians and their families. Colonial service From the mid-1920s Stewart took up appointments in the Colonial Legal Service. He was a magistrate, Judge of Petty Civil Court and Coroner of the County of Victoria in Trinidad from 1927–1929. He served as Assistant Legal Adviser at the Colonial Office, 1929–30 and as Legal Adviser to the Governor of Malta, 1930–33. From July–August 1932 he briefly held the rank of Deputy Governor of Malta. He was a member of the Nominated and Privy Councils of Malta and Examiner in English Literature and History in the University of Malta. In 1933 he was appointed Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast Colony and held the post until 1942. Stewart also served as a Member of the West African Court of Appeal and was Acting Chief Justice of Gold Coast Colony on various occasions. Volunteer soldier In 1913, Stewart received a commission in the Tynemouth Royal Garrison Artillery, Territorial Force. He was Assistant to the Competent Military Authority, Tyne Garrison from 1919–20, earning a mention for valuable services. He achieved the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery, serving in the Reserve from 1921–1928. Politics Local politics Stewart was elected as a member of the Newcastle Board of Guardians in 1909 and served until 1912. In that year