 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|||||
|
 |
 |
Biography of Castlereagh, ViscountName: Castlereagh, ViscountBirth Date: June 18, 1769 Death Date: August 12, 1822 Place of Birth: Ulster, Ireland Nationality: English Gender: Male Occupations: statesman Castlereagh, Viscount The British statesman Robert Stewart Viscount Castlereagh and 2d Marquess of Londonderry (1769-1822), as foreign secretary did much to consolidate a firm final international alliance against Napoleon and to establish the framework for a remarkably durable European peace settlement.Robert Stewart was born in Ulster on June 18, 1769, son of Robert Stewart and Lady Sarah Seymour. His father, a substantial landowner and member of the Irish Parliament, was raised to the Irish peerage in 1789. As the eldest son, Robert held the courtesy title of Viscount Castlereagh from 1796 until he succeeded as Marquess of Londonderry in 1821. His schooling in Ireland was followed by a year at Cambridge and by a good deal of contact with the influential English families of his mother and stepmother, the Hertfords and the Camdens. In 1794 he married Lady Emily Hobart, daughter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire. Entering the Irish Parliament in 1790, he at first advocated radical reform of …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…the Spanish colonies, he decided to try personally to dissuade the powers or, if need be, to break with them more openly. But it remained for his successor, George Canning, to carry out this policy, which he did with popular acclaim. Following a grueling term in the House of Commons, Castlereagh suffered a nervous breakdown, and on Aug. 12, 1822, he committed suicide. Further Reading C. K. Webster has influenced all subsequent biographies with the two most thorough studies of Castlereagh's major work: The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh, 1812-1815 (1931) and The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh, 1815-1822 (1925; 2d ed. 1934). Also valuable are Sir J. A. R. Marriott, Castlereagh (1936); lone Leigh, Castlereagh (1951), particularly for the earlier years; C. J. Bartlett, Castlereagh (1967), a readable and balanced analysis of Castlereagh's career; and Bradford Perkin's important study, Castlereagh and Adams: Britain and the United States, 1812-1823 (1964).Derry, John W. (John Wesley), Castlereagh, London: A. Lane, 1976.Hinde, Wendy, Castlereagh, London: Collins, 1981. |