Lot Essay
The arms are those of Charles William, Baron Stewart of Stewart's Court and 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, born in 1778. He followed a distinguished career first as a soldier and later as a diplomatist. He served in Flanders in 1794 and was wounded at Donauworth. He ditinguished himself as Adjutant General under Sir John Moore in the Peninsular Campaign, particularly at the Douoro and Talavera, and was created a Knight Commander of the Sword and Tower of Portugal in 1813. In that year he was sent as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin, and the following year was appointed Ambassador to Vienna, where together with his half-brother he was one of the representatives to the Congress of Vienna in that year which drew the political map of Europe in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. It is evident that these plates and those in the following lot were issued to him by the Jewel House for use on his embassy.
He married as his first wife, in 1804, Catherine, daughter of John, Earl of Darnley. She died aged 37 in 1812 and in 1819 he married Frances, daughter and heir of Sir Hanry Vane-Tempest, who was 22 years his junior. Of this match, Moore wrote:
And 'tis plain when a young lady so mad is,
Or any young lady can go so astray
As to marry old dandies that might be their daddies,
The stars are in fault, my Lord Stewart, not they.
In 1822 he succeeded his half-brother, the celebrated politician, as Marquess. In 1839 he fought a duel with one Henry Grattan who, having taken offence at a speech of his, had challenged him. Grattan missed him and the Marquess fired into the air, so the affair ended harmlessly. He was the author of The Story of the Peninsular War and Narrative of the War in Germany and France. He died in 1854.
He married as his first wife, in 1804, Catherine, daughter of John, Earl of Darnley. She died aged 37 in 1812 and in 1819 he married Frances, daughter and heir of Sir Hanry Vane-Tempest, who was 22 years his junior. Of this match, Moore wrote:
And 'tis plain when a young lady so mad is,
Or any young lady can go so astray
As to marry old dandies that might be their daddies,
The stars are in fault, my Lord Stewart, not they.
In 1822 he succeeded his half-brother, the celebrated politician, as Marquess. In 1839 he fought a duel with one Henry Grattan who, having taken offence at a speech of his, had challenged him. Grattan missed him and the Marquess fired into the air, so the affair ended harmlessly. He was the author of The Story of the Peninsular War and Narrative of the War in Germany and France. He died in 1854.