Joseph Ewart FRSE (30 April 1759 – 27 January 1792) was a Scottish diplomat, mainly based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

(now

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) .

Early life

Ewart was born on 30 April 1759, the eldest son of Mary (née Corrie) and Rev. John Ewart, the minister of

Troqueer Troqueer is a former village and a parish in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway on the west side of the River Nith. The eastern-side was merged with Dumfries to the east in 1929, and today eastern Troqueer is a sub ...

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

. He was educated at Dumfries Parish School then went to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, and then acted as travelling tutor to Macdonald of Clan Ronald.

Adult life

While abroad, Ewart made the acquaintance of Sir John Stepney, British minister at Dresden, and after that diplomat was transferred to Berlin, Ewart became his private secretary and then secretary of legation. After acting as chargé d'affaires from 1787 to 1788, he was appointed envoy extraordinary and

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 the ...

to the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

on 5 August 1788.

Service in Prussia

Pitt's design, assisted by Lord Malmesbury, was to induce Frederick William of Prussia to intervene in the affairs of Holland; to put down the revolutionary party there; and to re-establish the Prince of Orange as a stadt-holder. This design was carried out, and Ewart obtained much credit for his share in the transactions. Of his subsequent conduct at the court of Berlin there are contradictory reports, for the French revolution commenced in 1789, and partisans and opponents of the English foreign policy of that period represent the minister's behaviour in different lights. Ewart was accused of adopting too peremptory an attitude towards the King of Prussia and his ministers, thus alienating them from England. He succeeded in concluding the marriage treaty between the Duke of York and the eldest daughter of the King of Prussia, and received warm acknowledgments from the king. His health breaking down, he resigned on a pension of 1,000l. a year and a promise of the Order of the Bath. He left Berlin on 3 November 1791. He died at his brother's house in Bladud's Buildings, Bath, on 27 January 1792, and was buried in Bath Abbey, where a tablet is erected to his memory. A statement that he died out of his mind, and another (by Wraxell) that his death was due to foul play of the Empress Catherine, are entirely disproved by facts preserved in the family papers.

Personal life

In 1785 he married the Countess Wartensleben, with whom he had two daughters, and a one son (later Lieutenant General) John Frederick Ewart. John Frederick married Lavinia Brisbane, daughter of Charles Brisbane and their children included the military leaders John Alexander Ewart and Charles Brisbane Ewart. In 1790 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were John Robison,

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

and Robert Kerr. He died at Bladud's Buildings in Bath and is buried in Bath Abbey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewart, Joseph Scottish diplomats Scottish educators Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 18th-century Scottish people 1759 births 1792 deaths Ambassadors of Great Britain Ambassadors to Prussia