Castlereagh, << KAS uhl ray, >> Viscount (1769-1822), was a noted British statesman at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. He was born on June 18, 1769, in Dublin, Ireland. His given name was Robert Stewart.
In 1790, Castlereagh was elected to the Irish Parliament. In 1800, he persuaded the Irish Parliament to pass the Act of Union, which joined Ireland and Great Britain to form the United Kingdom.
Castlereagh served in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until his death. He served as war secretary in 1805 and from 1807 to 1809. In 1809, he wounded Foreign Secretary George Canning in a duel over war policy and resigned from office temporarily. See Canning, George .
Castlereagh served both as foreign secretary and as leader of the House of Commons from 1812 to 1822. He worked out many of the peace settlements at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Castlereagh committed suicide on Aug. 12, 1822. See Vienna, Congress of .
