Vice-Admiral Charles Stewart (1681 – 5 February 1741) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

who saw service during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

, and the Wars of the Spanish Succession,

Quadruple Alliance Quadruple Alliance may refer to: * The October 1673 alliance between the Dutch Republic, Emperor Leopold, Spain, and Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, during the Franco-Dutch War. * The 1718 alliance between Austria, France, the Netherlands, and Great ...

and

Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

. He embarked on a political career, and was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the Parliaments of Ireland and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Stewart was born into the nobility, raised the younger son of a

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

. He entered the navy at an early age, but suffered a severe wound at the beginning of his career, losing his right hand. He recovered, and prospered in the service, rising to command several ships in the frequent wars of the early eighteenth century. He also had an interest in politics, representing Tyrone from 1715. By 1720 he had risen high enough in the navy to be entrusted with a squadron to take action against Mediterranean piracy, particularly the dangerous

Salé Rovers The Salé Rovers, also Sale Rovers or Salle Rovers, were a dreaded band of Barbary corsairs in the 17th century. They formed the Republic of Salé on the Moroccan coast. The most famous of the rovers was Jan Janszoon, a Dutchman who had been a pir ...

. He had the dual commission of acting as

minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under th ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, and managed to successfully negotiate a treaty and the release of 296 British prisoners. Rewarded with an increased pension and further commands, Stewart was raised to

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

and served for a time as commander in chief in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and held junior commands in the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

. He also sat for the British parliament, representing

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the up ...

from 1723 until 1727, and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

from 1737 until his death in 1741.

Family and early career

Charles Stewart was born in 1681, the fifth son of Sir William Stewart later 1st Viscount Mountjoy. His mother was Mary, the eldest daughter of

Richard Coote, 1st Baron Coote Earl of Bellomont, in the Kingdom of Ireland, was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation came on 9 December 1680 when Charles Kirkhoven, 1st Baron Wotton, was made Earl of Bellomont. He had already be ...

. Charles entered the navy at an early age, and was involved in the

. In 1697, at the age of 16, his ship was involved in an engagement with a French warship off

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, and Stewart was injured, losing his right hand. He was granted a pension of £100 for his injury in 1699. Recovering from the injury, he continued in the service and was promoted to lieutenant. He served on several ships at this rank until being promoted to captain and given command of the frigate on 1 December 1704. After some time in command of this ship, he was transferred to the 50-gun and served in the Mediterranean under

Sir John Leake Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Leake (4 July 1656 – 21 August 1720) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. He then ...

. He was one of the officers involved in the court-martial of Sir Thomas Hardy in October 1707, aboard at

Parliament and commands

Stewart combined a naval career with a political one, at first entering the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

in October 1715, representing Tyrone. After some years in the navy, he was assigned to command a squadron in the Mediterranean in 1720 against the

. Combined with this task was the appointment as

, with orders to secure a peace treaty with the emperor,

Ismail Ibn Sharif Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif ( ar, مولاي إسماعيل بن الشريف), born around 1645 in Sijilmassa and died on 22 March 1727 at Meknes, was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672–1727, as the second ruler of the Alaouite dynasty. He was the sev ...

Embassy to Morocco

Stewart sailed from England on 24 September, making his way to

Tétouan Tétouan ( ar, تطوان, tiṭwān, ber, ⵜⵉⵟⵟⴰⵡⴰⵏ, tiṭṭawan; es, Tetuán) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles so ...

via

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. Arriving at Tétouan on 22 December, he negotiated a treaty with the

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

and the articles were exchanged on 17 January 1721. He then travelled on to Mequinez, arriving on 3 July 1721 and meeting the emperor in an audience on 6 July. The articles of the treaty were exchanged, with Abdelkader Perez, a Moroccan admiral and later ambassador to Britain, assisting negotiations. The emperor then presented Stewart with a gift of nine Christian slaves. A second meeting took place on 23 July, at which all the captured Englishmen held as slaves, 296 in total, were released. After exchanging messages of friendship and goodwill, Stewart left Mequinez on 27 July and arrived back at Tétouan on 12 August. He then returned to Britain with the former captives. His success on these occasions was rewarded with the increase of his annual pension to £300, on 14 December 1724.

Politics and flag rank

Stewart apparently became a supporter of

John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich, (10 October 1680 – 4 October 1743), styled Lord Lorne from 1680 to 1703, was a Scottish nobleman and senior commander in the British Army. He served on the contine ...

, and was elected to represent

on his interest, on 25 January 1723. He represented Malmesbury until 1727, and though Sir Charles Wager expected that Argyll would arrange for Stewart to be elected to represent

in 1732, this did not happen. Stewart's next opportunity to distinguish himself at sea came in late 1729, towards the end of the Anglo-Spanish War. News arrived in England that Edward St. Lo, commander in chief at the

Jamaica Station Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station ...

during the

Blockade of Porto Bello The Blockade of Porto Bello was a failed British naval action against the Spanish port of Porto Bello in present-day Panama between 1726 and 1727 as part of the Anglo-Spanish War. The British were attempting to blockade the port to stop the S ...

, had died while in command. Stewart was promoted to rear-admiral of the blue on 9 December 1729 and set out to take up the command in Lo's stead,Cundall, p. xx flying his flag aboard . He was commander in chief until 1732, being promoted to rear-admiral of the white on 29 June 1732. He was promoted again, to vice-admiral of the blue, on 26 February 1734, and given command of a division of a fleet being prepared for sea to counter Spanish threats. Stewart duly hoisted his flag aboard the 80-gun , but the crisis passed without breaking into war. He then became second in command of the

, under Sir John Norris, flying his flag aboard the 70-gun , but again without seeing any action.

Later life

Stewart continued to serve in the navy and receive promotions. He was raised to the rank of vice-admiral of the white on 2 March 1736. He also resumed his parliamentary career, being returned to represent

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 10 February 1737. He held this seat until his death on 5 February 1741, voting against the

Convention of Pardo The Convention of Pardo, also known as the Treaty of Pardo or Convention of El Pardo, was a 1739 agreement between Britain and Spain. It sought to resolve trade issues between the two countries and agree boundaries between Spanish Florida and th ...

in 1739, but for the place bill of 1740. He died unmarried.

Notes

a. In the summer of 1706 Hardy had been given command of a small squadron assigned to escort a convoy of 200 merchants to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. They had encountered a French squadron of six warships off

the Lizard The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

on 27 August, but Hardy decided that he would not be able to catch them, had concentrated on keeping the convoy together, and had escorted it to the prescribed distance of 120 leagues in line with his orders. His failure to pursue the French squadron later resulted in him being charged with neglect of duty, but he was fully acquitted at the court-martial, with the observation that he had "complied with the lord high admiral's orders, both with regard to chasing the enemy and also the protecting the trade." Hardy continued into the service and rose to

Citations

References

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Charles 1681 births 1741 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tyrone constituencies Irish MPs 1715–1727 Younger sons of viscounts Ambassadors of Great Britain to Morocco British military personnel of the Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729)