William Kirkpatrick of Málaga |
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William Kirkpatrick of Málaga
Author: Colin Carlin
Paperback: 266 pages
Published: 25 February 2011
ISBN: 1845300718
William Kirkpatrick of Málaga was a leading figure in the foreign community in Southern Spain between 1790 and 1830.
US Consul, industrialist, and famously the grandfather of the Empress Eugénie, this definitive biography by Colin Carlin is published by The Grimsay Press of Glasgow and is available from the Gatehouse Bookshop at the English Cemetery in Málaga or from Amazon.co.uk
THE STORY of william kirkpatrick
This account of William Kirkpatrick of Málaga reveals for the first time a remarkable man only occasionally mentioned in the numerous biographies of his famous granddaughter, the Empress Eugénie.
As United States Consul in Malaga between 1800 and 1817, William Kirkpatrick was a strong advocate of the US Navy's role in combating the Barbary Corsairs.
His Consular work, business enterprises and extensive European and American connections are explored using new sources.
These show that the Kirkpatricks of Dumfriesshire who settled in Spain in the 1730s were an enterprising family of international merchants.
Allied with similar families from across Europe, the Kirkpatricks revolutionised trade and industry in southern Spain and even had a hand in introducing grapevines to Australia.
The Kirkpatrick family received wide attention when Eugénie, aided by her mother the formidable Maria Manuela, Countess de Montijo, made a spectacular marriage to Napoleon III and became Empress Regent of France, a confidante of Queen Victoria, and an iconic figure in 19th Century Europe.