This sub-collection consists of correspondence from the period 1850-1864, including letters relating to Stewart's appointment as superintendent of Malta Dockyard.

Administrative / biographical background
Houston Stewart entered the Navy in 1805, became a lieutenant in 1811, a commander in 1814 and a captain in 1817. In 1846, following service in North America and in the Mediterranean, he was appointed controller-general of the Coastguard. This post he held until 1850, when he was made a lord of the Admiralty, becoming a rear-admiral in 1851. In 1853 he went out to the Mediterranean as third-in-command and superintendent of Malta Dockyard, remaining there until 1855, when he became second-in-command in the Black Sea. For some months in 1856 he was superintendent of Devonport Dockyard, after which, until 1860, he was commander-in-chief in North America. Stewart was promoted to vice-admiral in 1857. From 1860 to 1863 he was commander-in-chief at Devonport, becoming an admiral in 1862 and admiral of the fleet in 1872. In 1834, as part of the UK government's Slave Compensation Commission, Stewart was awarded compensation for ownership of 143 enslaved persons on the Roxburgh estate, Tobago. The estate had been settled on him by his father Sir Michael Shaw Stewart in approxiamtely 1821 (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/27793). His service record can be found under the references ADM 196/6/180 and ADM 196/37/1054 at The National Archives.