Robert Stuart was born in Ireland in about 1812 to Thomas Stuart (of Whitehall, County Clare, and Lifford, County Limerick, the alleged illegitimate son of Thomas Smyth and brother of Major-General Charles Stuart). On 2 June 1842 he married Elizabeth Sarah Cathcart, youngest daughter of the Honorable and Reverend Archibald Hamilton Cathcart and Frances Henrietta Fremantle). They had no children.
After the war, he was appointed Vice-Consul at Volos and later Consul at Janina and Consul-General in various locations. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Stuart purchased an Ensigncy in the 44th Foot in 1834.
Later promoted Lieutenant, he exchanged into the 7th Foot in 1838 and purchased a Captaincy in 1842.
He exchanged into the 41st Foot in 1851 and retired in 1852. However, he served in the Crimean War, rising to the rank of Major, and remained in the region after the war.
In 1861 he became Consul at Janina. In 1874 he became Consul-General in Haiti and Chargé d"Affaires of the Dominican Republic.
In 1856, Stuart led an expedition to the summit of Mount Ararat, along with Major Fraser, Review
Walter Thursby, Mr. Theobald and Mr. Evans. Stuart retired in 1883 and settled in Leamington Spa, where he died on 17 June 1901.
