The Hon. Sir William Stuart, (3 March 1824 – 1 April 1896) was a British diplomat who served as Minister to Argentina, Greece and The Netherlands.

Early life

William Stuart was the third son of General Robert Walter Stuart, 11th

Lord Blantyre Lord Blantyre was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1606 for the politician Walter Stewart. The lordship was named for Blantyre Priory in Lanarkshire, where Walter Stewart had been commendator. The main residences associated ...

and the former Fanny Mary Rodney, a daughter of Capt. Hon. John Rodney (son of Admiral George Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney). His older brother was

Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre Charles Walter Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre, DL (21 December 1818 – 15 December 1900), styled Master of Blantyre from birth until 1830, was a Scottish politician and landowner with . Born at Lennoxlove House, Stuart was the second son of Rober ...

who married Evelyn, the second daughter of

George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland, KG (8 August 178627 February 1861), styled Viscount Trentham until 1803, Earl Gower between 1803 and 1833 and Marquess of Stafford in 1833, was a British Whig MP and peer fro ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

Career

He entered the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to ...

in 1845 as unpaid

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accor ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and continued unpaid for six years until 1851.Minutes of evidence taken before the Select Committee on Diplomatic Service, 13 May 1861
page 168, paragraph 1783ff. In 1856 it fell to Stuart (by then with the rank of First Attaché at Paris) to carry back to London the

Ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inten ...

, signed by the monarchs of the participating countries, of the

Treaty of Paris (1856) The Treaty of Paris of 1856 brought an end to the Crimean War between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty, signed on 30 March 1856 at ...

. In 1856 Stuart began a series of posts as Secretary of Legation, first at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, then at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

from 1859 until February 1861 when King Francis II was overthrown and the British legation at Naples was closed. Stuart was then appointed to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in October 1861, to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in October 1862, to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in 1864 and to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 1866. In 1868 Stuart was appointed Minister to the

Argentine Republic Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, although in March 1871 he was in London acting as Protocolist to a conference on the

European Commission of the Danube The Commissions of the Danube River were authorized by the Treaty of Paris (1856) after the close of the Crimean War. One of these international commissions, the most successful, was the European Commission of the Danube, or, in French, ''Commiss ...

, when he was awarded the CB. In 1872 he was appointed to be Minister to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and in 1877 to his final post as Minister to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. His duties there included negotiation of a bilateral treaty between Great Britain and Luxembourg on the extradition of criminals in 1880 (superseded by later European conventions, currently the European Arrest Warrant), and the North Sea Fisheries Convention of 1882. While at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

he was knighted a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(KCMG) in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

of 1886. He retired in 1888.

Personal life

Stuart married Georgina Tremenheere (1848–1901), the eldest daughter of Maj.-Gen. G. B. Tremenheere. Sir William died 1 April 1896. Lady Stuart died, aged 52, on 3 January 1901.

References

External links

Catalogue of the Papers of Sir Andrew Buchanan
University of Nottingham
Sir William Stuart: Papers
– The National Archives

– The Scottish War Graves Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, William 1824 births 1896 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Greece Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath