William Horwood Stuart
Encyclopedia
William Horwood Stuart was a British
diplomat. He was murdered at Batum, Georgia
, then part of the Russian Empire
, while serving as a United States
vice-consul there.
, in 1857 to William Stuart M.A. (1816-1896), who later served as Vicar of Mundon
, Essex
(1862-1889), and Rector of Hazeleigh
, Essex
(1889-1896). His mother was Caroline (1834-1921), youngest daughter of Edward Horwood of The Manor House, Weston Turville
, Buckinghamshire
. He was also a nephew of the diplomat Major Robert Stuart and the surgeon and artist James Stuart, as well as a great-nephew of the Indophile Major-General Charles Stuart
, and a descendant of Lieutenant-General William Spry
.
and the Sea of Azov
) at Odessa
, Ukraine
. In the 1880s he was based at Brăila
in Romania
, where, in July 1885, his younger brother Charles Leader Justice Stuart drowned in the Danube
at the age of 16.
.
While serving in Batum, Stuart actively lobbied for the American interests in the region and was connected with an American copper-mining concern in the Caucasus
. He was the representative of several British companies, including MacAndrew Forbes. He was one of the largest ship-brokers and exporters of Batum.
At about 11 p.m. on 21 May 1906, Stuart was returning to his home at Makhinjauri
, 5 miles north of Batum, after dining with a friend, when he was shot three times from behind a tree. He was taken to a nearby military barracks but died within an hour.
It seems likely that the murder was committed for personal reasons and that the murderers were paid to carry out the act. Stuart had spent most of his life in Eastern Europe
and could speak several local languages; he was respected by the local populations but during the revolutionary uprisings
of the previous year, his life was threatened and he was obliged to hand over large amounts of cash. In a letter to the United States Secretary of State
on 31 May 1906, Ambassador George von Lengerke Meyer
wrote that two men, "Kassim Didjavadgé and Ali Porkhall Oghly" had been arrested.
(United States Secretary of State
, George von Lengerke Meyer
(US Ambassador to Russia), Whitelaw Reid
(US Ambassador to the UK
), Cecil Spring-Rice
(British Chargé d'Affaires at Saint Petersburg, and author of the lyrics to the hymn
I Vow to Thee My Country), Patrick Stevens (British Consul at Batum), Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky
(Russian Foreign Minister
) and Baron Roman Romanovitch Rosen
(Russian Ambassador to the US).
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
diplomat. He was murdered at Batum, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, while serving as a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
vice-consul there.
Family
William H. Stuart was born in Harrow, LondonHarrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
, in 1857 to William Stuart M.A. (1816-1896), who later served as Vicar of Mundon
Mundon
Mundon is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex. It lies 3 miles south-east of Maldon. The manor of Munduna passed from the king's thegn Godwin to Eudo Dapifer at the Conquest...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
(1862-1889), and Rector of Hazeleigh
Hazeleigh
Hazeleigh is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex. It lies 2.6 miles south-west of Maldon.- Hazeleigh's Parish Council :...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
(1889-1896). His mother was Caroline (1834-1921), youngest daughter of Edward Horwood of The Manor House, Weston Turville
Weston Turville
Weston Turville is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about a mile and a half south east of Aylesbury and the parish is bisected across the top by Akeman Street....
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. He was also a nephew of the diplomat Major Robert Stuart and the surgeon and artist James Stuart, as well as a great-nephew of the Indophile Major-General Charles Stuart
Major-General Charles Stuart
Major-General Charles Stuart was an officer in the East India Company Army and is well known for being one of the few British officers to embrace Hindu culture while stationed there, earning the nickname Hindoo Stuart....
, and a descendant of Lieutenant-General William Spry
Lieutenant-General William Spry
Lieutenant-General William Spry was born in Titchfield, Hampshire, in 1734, the son of George Spry and Elizabeth Short.He joined the Royal Engineers and gradually rose through the ranks....
.
Early career
In 1873 Stuart was serving as Private Secretary to his uncle Major Robert Stuart, a British consul-general for the Russian ports on the Black SeaBlack Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
) at Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. In the 1880s he was based at Brăila
Braila
Brăila is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County, in the close vicinity of Galaţi.According to the 2002 Romanian census there were 216,292 people living within the city of Brăila, making it the 10th most populous city in Romania.-History:A...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, where, in July 1885, his younger brother Charles Leader Justice Stuart drowned in the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
at the age of 16.
In Batum
By the early 1890s, Stuart had moved to Batum, where he remained until his death. In 1904 he became an American vice-consul and in 1906 was also serving as an acting British consul. Stuart had been named Japanese consul but his appointment was deferred owing to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese WarRusso-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
.
While serving in Batum, Stuart actively lobbied for the American interests in the region and was connected with an American copper-mining concern in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. He was the representative of several British companies, including MacAndrew Forbes. He was one of the largest ship-brokers and exporters of Batum.
At about 11 p.m. on 21 May 1906, Stuart was returning to his home at Makhinjauri
Makhinjauri
Makhinjauri is an urban-type settlement in Adjara, Georgia, with the population of 3,400 as of 2002. It is located on the Black Sea coast in the Khelvachauri district, 5 km north of Batumi, the capital of Adjara, and functions as a seaside resort...
, 5 miles north of Batum, after dining with a friend, when he was shot three times from behind a tree. He was taken to a nearby military barracks but died within an hour.
It seems likely that the murder was committed for personal reasons and that the murderers were paid to carry out the act. Stuart had spent most of his life in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and could speak several local languages; he was respected by the local populations but during the revolutionary uprisings
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
of the previous year, his life was threatened and he was obliged to hand over large amounts of cash. In a letter to the United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
on 31 May 1906, Ambassador George von Lengerke Meyer
George von Lengerke Meyer
George von Lengerke Meyer was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as United States ambassador to Italy and Russia, as United States Postmaster General from 1907 to 1909 during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt and...
wrote that two men, "Kassim Didjavadgé and Ali Porkhall Oghly" had been arrested.
Reaction to the murder
The matter of the murder was taken up by all levels of the American, British and Russian diplomatic services. Letters and memoranda were exchanged by Elihu RootElihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
(United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, George von Lengerke Meyer
George von Lengerke Meyer
George von Lengerke Meyer was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as United States ambassador to Italy and Russia, as United States Postmaster General from 1907 to 1909 during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt and...
(US Ambassador to Russia), Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
(US Ambassador to the UK
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
), Cecil Spring-Rice
Cecil Spring-Rice
Sir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice GCMG GCVO , was a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1912 to 1918.-Early life:...
(British Chargé d'Affaires at Saint Petersburg, and author of the lyrics to the hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
I Vow to Thee My Country), Patrick Stevens (British Consul at Batum), Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky
Alexander Izvolski
Count Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky or Iswolsky was a Russian diplomat remembered as a major architect of Russia's alliance with the British Empire during the years leading to the outbreak of the First World War.Having graduated from the Alexander Lyceum with honours, Izvolsky married Countess von...
(Russian Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister of Russia
This is a list of foreign ministers of Tsardom of Russia, Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation.-Heads of Posolsky Prikaz, 1549-1699:*Ivan Viskovatyi 1549-62*Andrey Vasilyev 1562-1570*Brothers Vasily and Andrey Shchelkalov 1570-1601...
) and Baron Roman Romanovitch Rosen
Roman Rosen
Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen was a diplomat in the service of the Russian Empire.-Biography:Rosen was from a long line of russified Baltic German nobility that included musicians and military leaders...
(Russian Ambassador to the US).