# George Stepney

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{{Short description|English poet and diplomat}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
thumb|George Stepney
'''George Stepney''' (1663 – 15 September 1707) was an [English](/source/United_Kingdom) [poet](/source/poet) and [diplomat](/source/diplomat).

Stepney was the son of [George Stepney](/source/George_Stepney_(senior)), groom of the chamber to [Charles II](/source/Charles_II_of_England), and was born at [Westminster](/source/Westminster). He was admitted on the foundation of [Westminster School](/source/Westminster_School) in 1676, and in 1682 became a scholar of [Trinity College, Cambridge](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Cambridge), becoming a fellow of his college in 1687.<ref>{{acad|id=STPY682G|name=Stepney, George}}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Through his friend [Charles Montagu](/source/Charles_Montagu%2C_1st_Earl_of_Halifax), afterwards [Earl of Halifax](/source/Earl_of_Halifax), he entered the diplomatic service, and in 1692 was sent as [envoy](/source/List_of_diplomats_from_the_United_Kingdom_to_Prussia) to [Brandenburg](/source/Brandenburg). He represented [William III](/source/William_III_of_England) at various other [German](/source/Germany) courts, and in 1702 was [sent](/source/List_of_Ambassadors_from_the_United_Kingdom_to_Austria) to [Vienna](/source/Vienna), where he had already acted as envoy in 1693.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In Nov 1697 he was elected a [fellow of the Royal Society](/source/fellow_of_the_Royal_Society)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27stepney%27%29 |title=Library and Archive Catalogue |publisher=Royal Society |accessdate=21 October 2010 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1705 [Prince Eugene of Savoy](/source/Prince_Eugene_of_Savoy) requested Stepney's withdrawal on the grounds of his alleged favouritism towards the [Hungarian](/source/Hungary) insurgents, but the demand was taken back at the request of [John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough](/source/John_Churchill%2C_1st_Duke_of_Marlborough), who had great confidence in Stepney. He was, nevertheless, [removed](/source/List_of_Ambassadors_from_the_United_Kingdom_to_the_Netherlands) in 1706 to [The Hague](/source/The_Hague). In the following year he returned to England in the hope of recovering from a severe illness, but died in [Chelsea, London](/source/Chelsea%2C_London), and was buried in [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Stepney had a full and accurate knowledge of German affairs, and was a great letter-writer. Among his correspondents was [Gottfried Leibniz](/source/Gottfried_Leibniz), with whom he was on friendly terms. Much of his official and other correspondence is preserved in the letters and papers of Sir [John Ellis](/source/John_Ellis_(Harwich_MP)) ([British Library](/source/British_Library) Add MS 28875-28956), purchased from the [Earl of Macclesfield](/source/Thomas_Augustus_Wolstenholme_Parker%2C_6th_Earl_of_Macclesfield) in 1872, and others are available in the record office. He contributed a version of the [eighth satire](/source/Satire_VIII) of [Juvenal](/source/Satires_of_Juvenal) to the translation (1693) of the satires by [John Dryden](/source/John_Dryden) and others. [Samuel Johnson](/source/Samuel_Johnson), who included him in his ''Lives of the Poets'', called him a very licentious translator, and remarked that he did not recompense his neglect of the author by beauties of his own.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Stepney, George|volume=25|page=889}}

==External links==
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Commonscat-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepney, George}}
Category:1663 births
Category:1707 deaths
Category:People from Westminster
Category:Ambassadors of England to the Holy Roman Empire
Category:People educated at Westminster School, London
Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:Ambassadors of England to Sweden
Category:Ambassadors of England to Poland
Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey
George
Category:17th-century English diplomats
Category:18th-century English diplomats
Category:English male poets

{{England-diplomat-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [George Stepney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stepney) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stepney?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.