Catalogue description Stuart de Rothesay Papers

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Details of FO 342
Reference: FO 342
Title: Stuart de Rothesay Papers
Description:

This series contains official and private correspondence between Sir Charles Stuart and the Foreign Office during his early missions in Austria, Russia, Spain and Portugal.
Date: 1801-1814
Separated material:

Further official papers of Stuart's embassy to Paris, 1815 to 1830 are in the National Library of Scotland. Other Stuart papers are in the University of Chicago Library and Edinburgh University Library.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Sir Charles Stuart, Baron Stuart de Rothesay, 1779-1845
Physical description: 46 volume(s)
Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
Custodial history: The manuscript collections of Lord Stuart de Rothesay having been removed from Highcliffe Castle and announced for sale at auction in November 1935 on behalf of the Earl of Abingdon. The records that now form this series were claimed as the property of the Crown by the Foreign Office, by which department it was thereupon bound.
Administrative / biographical background:

Charles Stuart (from 1812 Sir Charles Stuart, from 1828 Baron Stuart de Rothesay) was born on 2nd January 1779, the eldest son of General Sir Charles Stuart and Louisa, daughter of Lord Vere Bertie.

He entered the diplomatic service, and in 1801 was appointed secretary to the legation and chargé d'affairs in Austria. From 1806 to 1808 he was secretary to the embassy and minister ad interim in Russia. In 1808 he was sent to Corunna in Spain on a special mission to gain information of troop movements and military activities in the area. Another mission to Austria followed in 1809, from 1810 to 1814 he was minister to Portugal, and subsequently he became minister ad interim to France. In his later career he was ambassador to the Netherlands, France and Russia.

He married Elizabeth Margaret Yorke, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke. He died on 6 November 1845.

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