Flight Lieutenant Alastair MacKichan Stewart was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire. His father Alexander Ritchie Stewart, a Bank Agent, and they lived at 73 Union Street in Greenock. Sadly, his mother Daisy died during childbirth. Educated at Fettes College. Alastair graduated MA from the University of Glasgow in 1940. His son, whom he never saw, was the singer and songwriter Al Stewart