William H. Stuart was born in Harrow, London, in 1857 to William Stuart Master of Arts 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.
He was murdered at Batum, Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire, while serving as a United States vice-consul there. (1816-1896), who later served as Vicar of Mundon, Essex (1862-1889), and Rector of Hazeleigh, Essex (1889-1896). 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 War. 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. lieutenant seems likely that the murder was committed for personal reasons and that the murderers were paid to carry out the acting 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.
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 Root (United States Secretary of State, George von Lengerke Meyer (United States Ambassador to Russia), Whitelaw Reid (United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom), Cecil Spring Rice (British Chargé d"Affaires at Saint St. 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 United States).
