The title of Baronet of Blair and Balcaskie in the county of Fife, was created on 2 June 1683 in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia for Thomas Stewart of Balcaskie, a Lord of Session. He was son of Henry Stewart and grandson of Sir William Stewart, 11th of Grantully and Murthly, both in Perthshire. 1st of Grantully was Sir John Stewart, Lord of Lorne, great-great-grandson of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland. Murthly had been acquired by the family in 1615.