Urquhart, David [key], 1805–77, British diplomat and writer. He served (1831–37) in various diplomatic capacities in Constantinople but was recalled because of his hostility to Russia. Subsequently in Parliament (1847–52) and through the press he attacked the British government's Middle Eastern policies, deprecating the interference in Turkey's domestic affairs before the Crimean War. As vehicles for his views, Urquhart founded the Portfolio (1835) and the Free Press (1855; called the Diplomatic Review after 1866). His numerous writings include England, France, and Turkey (1834) and The Crisis (1840).
See biography by G. Robinson (1920, repr. 1970).
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