# Alexander Oustean

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{{Short description|Scottish tailor and member of Edinburgh burgh council}}
'''Alexander Oustean''' or '''Oustian''' or '''Austin''' (died 1604) was a Scottish tailor and member of Edinburgh burgh council.
[[File:Portrait of James I of England and James VI of Scotland.jpg|thumb|right|[James VI and I](/source/James_VI_and_I), by [Adrian Vanson](/source/Adrian_Vanson), [Edinburgh Castle](/source/Edinburgh_Castle)]]

==Career==
He became a burgess of Edinburgh on 26 May 1560. He was Deacon of Crafts and Craft Councillor in 1582.<ref>Michael Lynch, ''Edinburgh and the Reformation'' (Edinburgh, 1981), p. 371.</ref> Oustean undertook a variety of duties for the council, acting as a pricer of wines and timber in 1590, and was often sent as the town's representative or commissioner to the [Convention of Royal Burghs](/source/Convention_of_Royal_Burghs).<ref>[Marguerite Wood](/source/Marguerite_Wood), ''Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1589-1603'' (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1927), pp. 1, 12, 15.</ref> In October 1589 he was sent with the merchant Richard Doby to meet the builders of a new house or hospital for [lepers](/source/leprosy) at the Chapel of the Rood by [Greenside](/source/Greenside%2C_Edinburgh), to design or set out the bounds of the site and building.<ref>Marguerite Wood, ''Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1589-1603'' (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1927), pp. 7-8.</ref> 

Alexander Oustean sided with the vocal party of Edinburgh merchants who wished [James VI of Scotland](/source/James_VI_of_Scotland) to marry a Danish bride rather than [Catherine de Bourbon](/source/Catherine_de_Bourbon), the sister of [Henry of Navarre](/source/Henry_IV_of_France).<ref>Maurice Lee, ''John Maitland of Thirlestane'' (Princeton University Press, 1959), p. 196.</ref> Oustean was wealthy, and was a financial guarantor or "cautionar" of the expenses of [George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal](/source/George_Keith%2C_5th_Earl_Marischal) during the negotiations for the marriage of [Anne of Denmark](/source/Anne_of_Denmark) and James VI. He was involved as a burgh commissioner with [John Arnot](/source/Sir_John_Arnot) at the Convention of Burghs for raising a tax for the royal marriage.<ref>[David Masson](/source/David_Masson), [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015073339064?urlappend=%3Bseq=314%3Bownerid=13510798900986673-328 ''Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1585-1592'', vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 234, 269]</ref> On 28 May 1589 Arnot and the baillies of Edinburgh and some of the burgesses came to [Holyrood House](/source/Holyrood_House) and protested to the [Chancellor](/source/Chancellor_of_Scotland), [John Maitland](/source/John_Maitland%2C_1st_Lord_Maitland_of_Thirlestane) of [Thirlestane](/source/Thirlestane_Castle) that the king should marry a Danish princess.<ref>William Boyd & Henry Meikle, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 87 no. 107: ''Papers of the Master of Gray'' (Edinburgh, 1835), p. 161.</ref> An account of expenses relating to the marriage and the [English subsidy](/source/English_subsidy_of_James_VI), kept by [Jean Fleming](/source/Jean_Fleming%2C_Countess_of_Cassilis), the "Lady Chancellor", includes a payment of £292-13s-4d [Scots](/source/Pound_Scots) made to "Allexander Anstien taillour".<ref>Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts', ''Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI'' (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 69.</ref>

In July 1590 Arnot and Oustean as commissioners for the burgh of Edinburgh contracted to borrow from the [Comptroller of Scotland](/source/Comptroller_of_Scotland), [David Seton of Parbroath](/source/David_Seton_of_Parbroath), the sum of £100,000 Scots and pay the king £4000 yearly. In April 1594 they were required to repay the remainder of the loan to the comptroller in order to pay the expenses of resisting the rebel [Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell](/source/Francis_Stewart%2C_5th_Earl_of_Bothwell).<ref>David Masson, ''Register of the Privy Council of Edinburgh, 1592-1599'' (Edinburgh, 1882), pp. 138-140.</ref>

in 1597 the burgh council of Edinburgh recognised that "Alexander Owsteane" was looking after three poor children and employed a nurse to look after them. Oustean was therefore exempted from paying a monthly charge for the benefit of poor people in Edinburgh.<ref>[Marguerite Wood](/source/Marguerite_Wood), ''Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1589 to 1603'' (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 188.</ref>

==Family connections==
Alexander Oustean was a close relation of Katherine Oustean, who married the goldsmith [George Heriot (died 1610)](/source/George_Heriot_(died_1610)), and had two daughters Agnes and Marion Heriot, who married John Houston. Alexander Oustean's eldest son was also called "Alexander Oustean". After he died in 1604, his second son George Oustean was his executor. Gilbert, who became a tailor, David, and Andrew Oustean were the youngest sons. He had at least four daughters; Sara Ousteane married another Edinburgh tailor John Elder, Marion Ousteane married a lawyer William Wylie, another daughter married Roger Duikesone, and Elizabeth Oustean married George Fraser.<ref>[National Records of Scotland](/source/National_Records_of_Scotland), 1604 Oustiane, Alexander Edinburgh Commissary Court CC8/8/39, pp. 34-346.</ref>

A younger son, John Oustean, was involved in a riot in Edinburgh on 17 December 1596.<ref>Michael Lynch, ''Edinburgh and the Reformation'' (Edinburgh, 1981), p. 371.</ref> The riot targeted the financial administration of the [Octavians](/source/Octavians).<ref>[Julian Goodare](/source/Julian_Goodare), ''The Scottish Witch-hunt in Context'' (Manchester University Press, 2002), p. 52.</ref> James VI was in the [Tolbooth](/source/Tolbooth) of Edinburgh with most of the [Privy Council](/source/Privy_Council_of_Scotland) and the Octavians. After a sermon given by [Walter Balcanquhall](/source/Walter_Balcanquhall_(divine)) in [St Giles](/source/St_Giles'_Cathedral), the congregation came out crying "the sword of [Gideon](/source/Gideon)" and some called for arms. The royal guard escorted James VI back to [Holyroodhouse](/source/Holyroodhouse).<ref>[Annie Cameron](/source/Annie_Cameron), ''Calendar State Papers Scotland, 1593-1597'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 393-8 nos. 314-5.</ref> Subsequently, Alexander Oustean was among a group of burgesses selected to make the town's peace and reconciliation with James VI in March 1597. The others were John Arnot, Littil, Moresoun, Edward Galbraith a [skinner](/source/Skinner_(profession)), and the [goldsmith](/source/goldsmith) George Heriot.<ref>Marguerite Wood, ''Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1589-1603'' (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1927), p. 180: [David Calderwood](/source/David_Calderwood), [https://archive.org/details/historyofkirkofs05cald/page/624/mode/2up ''History of the Kirk of Scotland'', vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1844), pp. 624-5]</ref> 

George Oustean (died 1616), who married Margaret Tod (died 1635), became a merchant burgess of Edinburgh.<ref>Cathryn Spence, ''Women, Credit, and Debt in Early Modern Scotland'' (Manchester, 2016), p. 68.</ref> He supplied goods to [John Campbell](/source/John_Campbell%2C_3rd_of_Cawdor), Laird of [Cawdor](/source/Cawdor_Castle), in 1615, including a hat for the young laird, cloth for the costume of the family's harp player, and a [piccadill](/source/piccadill). In 1616 he supplied cloth for the clothes of the laird's son Duncan Campbell, and the gowns and sleeves of the laird's daughter, and provided a muff for her hands.<ref>[Cosmo Innes](/source/Cosmo_Innes), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049812830&view=1up&seq=342&skin=2021 ''The Book of the Thanes of Cawdor'' (Edinburgh, 1859), pp. 238-241]</ref>

The surname is also found as "Austin" or "Oistiane", "Ousteane", or "Owsteane".<ref>[George Fraser Black](/source/George_Fraser_Black), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011274175&view=1up&seq=130&skin=2021 ''The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History'' (New York, 1946), pp. 38-9]</ref> Margaret Asteane, the midwife of [Mary, Queen of Scots](/source/Mary%2C_Queen_of_Scots) in 1566 may have been a relation.<ref>[Rosalind K. Marshall](/source/Rosalind_K._Marshall), ''Queen Mary's Women'' (John Donald, 2006), p. 171: ''Accounts of the Treasurer'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1916), p. 512.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oustean, Alexander}}
Category:1604 deaths
Category:16th-century Scottish businesspeople
Category:16th-century Scottish tailors
Category:17th-century tailors
Category:17th-century Scottish artisans

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Oustean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Oustean) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Oustean?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.