Collection ID: LMC 2002
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Stuart, Sir Charles, 1779-1845
Abstract:
The Stuart mss., 1730-1866, are the papers of Sir Charles Stuart, baron de Rothesay, 1779-1845, British diplomat to Portugal and Brazil.
Extent:
4 Boxes (3 standard, 1 custom)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Item], Stuart mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

In 1808, Sir Charles Stuart, baron de Rothesay, 1779-1845, entered the diplomatic service and became joint charge d'affaires at Madrid. Two years later he was sent as the British envoy to Portugal. After a short stay on native soil he represented his country at the Hague. Between 1815 and 1824 and again between 1828 and 1831, he held the post as ambassador to Paris. Sir Charles served in a similar capacity at St. Petersburg between 1841 and 1845.

During 1823 Portugal requested British mediation with Brazil, and it was only after long, tortuous and futile negotiations that George Canning decided, in the interests of all the states concerned, to dispatch a special mission to Portugal and Brazil to arrange the terms. Sir Charles Stuart, a diplomat of great experience, was selected for this task. In addition to negotiating the recognition of Brazilian independence by the mother country, Stuart was empowered to obtain from Brazil the prolongation of the trade treaty with Great Britain, originally signed in 1810 and due for revision in 1825, until such time as Brazilian independence was a recognized fact; a more permanent commercial agreement between Great Britain and Brazil could then be negotiated.

Although Sir Charles Stuart succeeded in achieving his first objective, the recognition of Brazilian independence by Portugal, his mission was not an unqualified success. He exceeded that part of his instructions relating to the commercial relations of Great Britain and Brazil by signing two permanent treaties, one concerning commerce and the other for the abolition of the slave trade which, though ratified by Dom Pedro, were quite unacceptable to Canning who was forced to disallow them. Stuart was recalled in the summer of 1826 and returned to Europe by way of Lisbon.

Scope and Content:

Many of the documents are of a purely private nature, consisting largely of letters to Stuart from personal friends during the time he was in Brazil and Portugal and cover a variety of subjects. But by far the bulk of the material is made up of diplomatic documents and related papers concerning Stuart's mission is both Brazil and Portugal. Included are also military and topographical papers which refer to Portugal and Brazil.

Copies of the eighteenth century documents in the collection were assembled as background material for Sir Charles's diplomatic missions. Some of these papers deal with an early period of Portuguese history.

Among the correspondents are Bernardo Jose de Abrantes e Castro; Jose Martiniano de Alencar; William Allen; Jose Joaqim Almeida e Araujo Correa de Lacerda; Joao da Anunciada; Jose Antonio de Alava; George Eden, earl of Auckland; James Bandinel; Felisberto Caldeira Brant Pontes, marques de Barbacena; Joao Bayla Esteves; William Carr Beresford, viscount Beresford; John Bidwell; Henry Stanford Blanckley; Jose Lucio Travassos Valdez, conde de Bomfin; George Bosanquet; C.W. Broughton; John Burgoyne; Maria (Dundas) Graham, lady Callcott; George Canning; Luis Jose Carvalho e Mello; Ignacio Castilbranco do Canto; Louis Francois Jean, baron Chabot; Henry Chamberlain; William Cotterell; Henry Wellesley, 1st baron Cowley; John Wilson Croker; Timothy Abraham Curtis; Henry Charles Dickens; Sir Alexander Dickson; Edward Drummond; Sir Charles Wyndham, 2d earl of Egremont; Paul Anton, furst Esterhazy; Sir George Eyre; Henry Stephen Fox; Sir Charles Henry, 4th bart. Frankland; Manuel Jose Garcia; Mr. Gautier; George IV, king of Great Britain; William Gifford; Francisco Gomes da Silva; Sir Robert Gordon; Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st earl Granville; John Gurwood; William Richard Hamilton; Sir Andrew Snape, 1st bart. Hamond; Sir Graham Eden, 2d bart. Hamond; Sir Thomas Masterman, 1st bart. Hardy; Edward Hay; John Charles Herries; William A'Court, 1st baron Heytesbury; Sir John Coze, 1st bart. Hippisley; Thomas Samuel Hood; Charles Augustus Ellis, 6th baron Howard de Walden; Manuel Jose Hurtado; Antonio Luis Pereira da Cunha, visconde de Inhambusse; Manuel Rodrigues Gameiro Pessoa, barao de Itabayana; Joþo VI, king of Portugal; Antonio de Lemos Pereira de Lacerda, visconde de Juromenha; Sir William Knighton; Charles Landseer; John Landseer; Julien Le Cesne; Leopold I, king of the Belgians; Leopoldina, consort of Pedro I, emperor of Brazil; John Campbell, 4th earl of Loudoun; John Singleton Copley, baron Lyndhurst; Thomas Graham, baron Lynedoch; George Francis Lyon; Frederick MacKenzie; Alfred Mallahen; Baron de Mareschal; Jeremiah Meagher; Frederick James Lamb, 3rd viscount Melbourne; William Miller; Gaspar Feliciano du Moraes; Isidoro Luis Moraes Castro; Godfrey Basil Mundy; William John Napier, 8th baron Napier; Algernon Percy, 4th duke of Northumberland; Pedro de Sousa-Holstein, duque de Palmella; Francisco Villela Barboza, marques de Paranagua; Sir Woodbine Parish; John Parkinson; Pedro I, emperor of Brazil; William Pennell; Carlos Matias Pereira; Joaquim Pereira Branco; Silvestre Pinheiro Ferreira; Jose Pires Garcia; Joseph Planta; Auguste Jules Armand Marie, prince de Polignac; Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Mello, marques de Pombal; Antonio de Saldanha da Gama, conde de Porto Santo; Henrique Teixeira de Sampaio, conde de Povoa; Juan Severiano Maciel da Costa, marques de Queluz; William Harding Read; Ostevao Ribeiro de Rezende; Frederick John Robinson, 1st earl of Ripon; Sir Christopher Robinson; Francisca Rocha de Sao Payo; Sir George Henry Rose; Sir John Ross; James, baron de Rothschild; Teodoro Saenz; Jose Egidio Alvares de Almeida, barao de Santo Amaro; Joaquim de Santo Anna Araujo Morinhoff; Jose Feliciano Fernandes Pinheiro, visconde de Sao Leopoldo; Jeronimo Vas Vieira Silva de Mello e Napoles; Mr. Slipper; George Stoddart; John Sykes; Sir Herbert Taylor; John Taylor; George Townshend, marquis Townshend; James O'Hara, 2d baron Tyrawley; Sir Charles Richard Vaughan; Henry Veitch; Alejandro Velez; Tomas Antonio de Villanova Portugal; Conde de Villa Real; Karl, baron von Vincent; Edward Michael Ward; Brown Watson; Mr. Webber; Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington; Sir Augustus West; J. Whitehead; Wilhelm, count of Schaumburg-Lippe; Michael Williams; William Wood; Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke.

Acquisition information:
Source unknown: 1968
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Physical location:
ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility) (Box 4); Lilly - Stacks

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Stuart mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu