{{Short description|British politician and diplomat (1806–1843)}} {{about||the Scottish politician|Sir Robert Steuart, 1st Baronet}} {{use British English|date=August 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = Robert Steuart |honorific_suffix = |image = |alt = |caption = |office = Lords Commissioner of the Treasury |prime_minister = Lord Melbourne |term_start = 1835 |term_end = 1841 |office2 = Member of Parliament <br> for Haddington Burghs |term_start2 = 18 December 1832 |term_end2 = 3 July 1841 |predecessor2 = Adolphus Dalrymple |successor2 = James Maitland Balfour |term_start3 = 23 May 1831 |term_end3 = 10 August 1831 |predecessor3 = Adolphus Dalrymple |successor3 = Adolphus Dalrymple |birth_date = 1806 |birth_place = |death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1843|07|15|1806}} |death_place = Republic of New Granada |death_cause = Fever |resting_place = |alma_mater = |birth_name = |party = Whig |other_party = |parents = |spouse = |children = }} thumb|The House of Commons, 1833 by Sir George Hayter.jpg '''Robert Steuart''' (1806 – 15 July 1843)<ref name="leighrayment">{{cite web |last1=Rayment |first1=Leigh |title=The House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "H" |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons1.htm|website=Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page |accessdate=16 August 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617155040/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons1.htm|archivedate=17 June 2018 |url-status=usurped |date=11 June 2018 }}</ref> was a British Whig politician.<ref name="stookssmith1842">{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Henry Stooks|title=The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections|date=1842|publisher=Simpkin, Marshall & Company|page=203|edition=Second|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQgHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA203|accessdate=2 September 2018}}</ref>
Born in 1806, and baptised on 9 July of the same year, Steuart was the first son of Robert Steuart of Alderston and Louisa Clementina. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1824 and, in 1827, married Maria, daughter of Samuel Dalrymple of Nunraw and North Berwick. They had three children—one son and two daughters, including Robert Dalrymple Steuart (1836–1864).<ref name="hop">{{cite web |last1=Escott |first1=Margaret |title=STEUART, Robert (1806–1843), of Alderston, Haddington and 10 Upper Belgrave Street, Mdx. |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/steuart-robert-1806-1843 |website=History of Parliament |accessdate=16 August 2019 |editor-last = Fisher |editor-first = D. R. |date=2009}}</ref>
Before his parliamentary career, Steuart became a commissioner of supply for Haddingtonshire, rallying support for local reformers and the Grey ministry at mass meetings in the winter of 1830/31. He canvassed the councils of Jedburgh and Haddington, and declared that he would stand for election at Haddington Burghs at the 1831 general election, during which there were riotous protest and the kidnapping of the Lauder baillie. An election petition was lodged and was ultimately successful with no contest from Steuart, leading to the return of the Tory, Adolphus Dalrymple. During this short tenure in parliament, Steuart voted for the second reading of the reintroduced English reform bill.<ref name="hop"/>
Advocating the ballot, civil registration, and church reform, he was returned for the seat at the 1832, recognised for his "abundant crop of hair" and was "much respected by all parties". His reputation led him to become a Lords Commissioner of the Treasury under Lord Melbourne, but resigned the office in 1841 after being passed over for the Irish secretaryship. Dependent on government support, he held the seat until his defeat to James Maitland Balfour in 1841.<ref name="stookssmith1842"/><ref name="hop"/><ref name="craig1832">{{cite book|editor1-last=Craig|editor1-first=F. W. S.|editor-link=F. W. S. Craig|title=British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885|date=1977|publisher=Macmillan Press|location=London|isbn=978-1-349-02349-3|edition=1st|page=549}}</ref>
Shortly after, he accepted a position as chargé d'affaires and consul general to the Republic of New Granada, where he died of a fever in 1843.<ref name="hop"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-steuart-1 | Mr Robert Steuart }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef| before = Adolphus Dalrymple }} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Haddington Burghs | years = May 1831 – Aug 1831 }} {{s-aft| after= Adolphus Dalrymple }} {{s-bef| before = Adolphus Dalrymple }} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Haddington Burghs | years = 1832–1841 }} {{s-aft| after= James Maitland Balfour }}
{{s-dip}} {{s-bef| |before= William Pitt Adams }} {{s-ttl | | title = Chargé d'Affaires and consul general to New Granada, Colombia | years = 1841–1843 }} {{s-aft |after= Daniel Florence O'Leary }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steuart, Robert}} Category:UK MPs 1831–1832 Category:UK MPs 1832–1835 Category:UK MPs 1835–1837 Category:UK MPs 1837–1841 Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Category:1806 births Category:1843 deaths Category:People from the Republic of New Granada
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