William Paget, 6th Baron Paget (10 February 1637 – 26 February 1713) was an English peer and ambassador. He was the eldest son of

William Paget, 5th Baron Paget William Paget, 5th Baron Paget (13 September 1609 – 19 October 1678) was an English Peerage, peer. Early life He was born at Beaudesert (House), Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England on 13 September 1609. He was the son of William Page ...

and Lady Isabella Rich, daughter of

Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland (baptised 15 August 1590, died 9 March 1649), was an English courtier and politician executed by Parliament of England, Parliament after being captured fighting for the Cavaliers, Royalists during the Second Engli ...

. Paget was born at Beaudesert, Staffordshire on 10 February 1637. With the death of his father on 19 October 1678 Paget took his seat in the house of Lords. Following the accession of William and Mary in 1688 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire in March 1689. On 4 September 1689 Paget was appointed English ambassador to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Returning to London in 1692 he was appointed as ambassador to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. The Royal Instructions arrived on 5 September and he left England a week later. He travelled via Vienna, which he left on 12 December, arriving at

Adrianople Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

on 30 January 1693. He finally reached Constantinople in July. Paget was joint chairman at the congress of Karlowitz from 2 November 1698 to 26 January 1699 which resulted in the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

between the Ottomans and the Holy League, ending the 15 year

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

. Paget remained at the Porte for nearly four more years. His cousin, the poet Aaron Hill, visited him in Constantinople. He was finally brought home in May 1702. Arriving back in London in April 1703 he was reappointed Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire on 24 June 1703. Paget owned considerable estates in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, particularly around Burton on Trent. In 1699, he obtained an Act of Parliament to extend navigation on the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

up to Burton, but nothing was immediately done. In 1711, Lord Paget leased his rights to George Hayne, who carried out improvements, quickly opening the river to Burton and stimulating the export of Burton Ale.History of Burton from 'British History Online'
/ref> Lord Paget married twice, firstly to Frances Pierrepont, daughter of Francis Pierrepont and Elizabeth Bray, by whom he had a son and heir Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge. He married secondly his cousin Isabella Irby, daughter of Sir Anthony Irby and Paget's aunt Catherine Paget. William Paget died at his London home on 26 February 1713 and was buried in the church of St Giles in the Fields on 20 March 1713.

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