David Urquhart

David Urquhart (1805, Braelangwell, Scotland - 1877) was educated in France, Switzerland and Spain. He returned to Britain in 1821. In 1822 or 1823 he entered St John’s College, Ox-ford, but he didn’t complete his classics degree. From 1827 he defended the Greek cause of the Independence War in his letters to the British Government. In 1831 he joined Sir Can-ning’s mission to Constantinople to settle the border between Greece and Turkey. He found himself increasingly attracted towards Turkish civilization and culture, becoming alarmed at the threat of Russian intervention in the region. Urquhart's campaigning, including publica-tion of Turkey and its Resources, culminated in his appointment on a trade mission to the re-gion in 1833. He was recalled by Palmerston just as he published his anti-Moscow pamphlet England, France, Russia and Turkey, which brought him into conflict with Richard Cobden. From 1835 to 1857 he was a secretary of embassy at Constantinople. In 1839 Urquhart pub-lished a book Spirit of the East, where he examines Turkey and Greece. From 1847 to 1852 he sat in parliament as member for Stafford, and carried on a vigorous campaign against Lord Palmerston's foreign policy. The action of the United Kingdom in the Crimean War pro-voked indignant protests from Urquhart, who contended that Turkey was in a position to fight her own battles without the assistance of other powers. In 1854 Urquhart married Har-riet Angelina Fortescue, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat. From 1864 until his death, Urquhart's health compelled him to live on the Continent, where he devoted his energies to promoting the study of international law.