Andrew Brunatti Profile picture
Jun 19, 2022 14 tweets 6 min read Read on X
In my last thread for #Castlereagh200, I looked at how #ViscountCastlereagh's final weeks in 1822 linked to 19thC writing on what we now recognize as #MentalHealth.

Now let's return to the framework of individual risk factors for chronic stress. 1/

#twitterstorians #ParlHist Image
Labour intensity (the volume, pressure, and complexity of work), and working time (length and unpredictability of working hours) are well-recognized in biographies of Castlereagh, so I'll zero in on a specific element: the consistent pressure on Castlereagh over a long period. 2/
It's difficult to capture the total demand on Castlereagh, but it is possible to establish a representative picture. I graphed the volume of contributions made by Castlereagh in the #HouseofCommons during each session from 1803-22. (full graph will be in the article) 3/ Image
We can clearly see the dramatic increase in his contributions beginning in 1812, the year he was appointed Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons (last green bar), with notable spikes through 1815-16 (war and post-war strategy, economy, etc) 4/
More important--when we look at the broad trend, we can see that from 1812-22 Castlereagh maintained a rate of contributions that was, on average, 3x higher than before 1812. On top of this, we can layer the length/unpredictability of parl hours, and ministerial business. 5/
In both the Irish (pre-1800) and British (post-1800) parliaments, debates frequently lasted well into the night, and sometimes for 18 or 20 hours. 4 or 5am was not an uncommon time for debates to conclude, and speeches often lasted for hours. 6/ Image
Huskisson later recounted that some members of Parliament resorted to drugs to help get through arduous parliamentary debates; he noted that Castlereagh and Liverpool would take Ether as an “excitement” before speaking (Img: 'Ether Frolics' 1808). 7/ Image
To capture other demands on Castlereagh over the same timeline, I layered a chronology of key events onto the same graph, showing events that necessitated significant additional policy or administrative work, cabinet meetings, travel, or diplomatic management. 8/ Image
In diplomacy, Castlereagh was a victim of his own success. The congress system placed more burden on him directly, and the frequency of meetings increased. After 1815, there were no meetings for 3 years, but from 1818-22 there was nearly 1 congress each year.9/ Img excerpted from chart fo...
This diplomacy also resulted in more travel. Even for a cabinet minister, the travel was long/uncomfortable. Castlereagh recounted in 1814: “The roads for the last 40 miles have been dreadfully bad […] The last 20 English miles took us 10 ½ hours...” (Img: Reeve, 1827) 10/ Image
When at home, Castlereagh usually used his weekends for diplomacy, often reserving Sundays for in-person discussions with ambassadors etc either at his townhouse in St James Square or at the country home at North Cray. (Img: Higham, 1822, BM Collection) 11/ Image
The key here is not just that Castlereagh was exposed to this tempo of work, but that these conditions existed for at least a decade, arguably longer. The cumulative effect of this exposure would have placed Castlereagh’s mental health at significant risk. 12/
In the next #Castlereagh200 thread, I'll look at structural factors in govt that contributed to chronic stress. Stay tuned. 13/13

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More from @AndrewBrunatti

Jan 24, 2023
Which Lord Londonderry is portrayed in this caricature/portrait by Richard Dighton?

A somewhat confusing🧵

#twitterstorians #19thC #portraiture

Image: Richard Dighton, @britishmuseum (BM), 1852,1116.559 Uncoloured print, showing a...
Between roughly 1818-1828, Richard Dighton did a series of profile portraits of men in Regency London's high society. Most were etchings, and the BM has digitized many prints held in its collection--they are worth your time if you're interested in Regency society, style, and art.
The earlier prints of this particular portrait, published individually by Dighton himself, are clearly dated to July 1821. Copies show up in the collections of the @britishmuseum, @NPGLondon, and @RCT.

(details shown here are from prints in the BM and RCT collections) A detail image showing the ...A detail image of the same ...
Read 15 tweets
Nov 25, 2022
The Stallburg in Vienna.

An elegant 16th Century building on the edge of the sprawling Hofburg palace. It housed the royal art collection and the royal stables.

It was also home to Austria's most efficient intelligence organization.

A 🧵

#twitterstorians #IntelHistory
The late-Renaissance building with an inner courtyard surrounded by arcades was multi-functional: it housed the royal stables, guest apartments, the royal art collection, and an armoury. In fact, the ground floor is still used as the stables for the vaunted Lipizzaner Stallions.
Around 1711 the Stallburg also became the home of the Ziffernkanzlei--the 'Number Office.'

A name both suggestive and vague (and one of many used throughout the organization's existence), it was really the secret office for mail interception and decryption.
Read 12 tweets
Nov 15, 2022
Castlereagh Creeping the House of Lords, or the Story of a Misidentified Portrait.

A 🧵

2 artists captured the proceedings against Queen Caroline in the #HouseofLords in 1820, and both include #ViscountCastlereagh. Let's start with James Stephanoff.

#twitterstorians #HistParl Image
Stephanoff shows Castlereagh perched on a staircase, watching from a small window. The 1823 key for Stephanoff's work identifies this figure as "The Marquis of Londonderry [Castlereagh], who usually took his station on the stairs leading to the gallery during the investigation." ImageImage
The other portrayal of the trial is, of course, George Hayter's monumental painting. Hayter, however, shows Castlereagh positioned in the box of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, on the bottom right corner. Image
Read 13 tweets
Aug 12, 2022
#OTD in 1822, #ViscountCastlereagh, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, died by his own hand.

Thanks very much to those of you who have followed my #Castlereagh200 threads, looking at Castlereagh's career through the lens of mental health.

1/

#twitterstorians Detail of Castlereagh's sta...
I was at a loss for how to mark the day after spending the last 2 years writing the research article on which all these tweets are based.

Maybe something more reflective is fitting.

I had always been interested in Castlereagh from a diplomatic and political standpoint...

2/
...and became increasingly interested in exploring the mental health aspect of his story because it was a challenging area that would combine history, politics, psychology, medicine, and other disciplines.

So I started researching in 2020.

3/
Read 9 tweets
Aug 10, 2022
In the last few months of #Castlereagh200 threads we've covered a lot of ground, looking at many stressors that put Castlereagh's #MentalHealth at risk.

Now that we're only days from the bicentenary of his death, let's look at some conclusions.

#twitterstorians

1/ Viscount Castlereagh, Thoma...
First, the stress on Castlereagh was cumulative and pervasive. The downward spiral that he experienced in the weeks preceding his suicide was only the final chapter in a story that had been developing for yrs. The overlap between the professional and the social made it worse.

2/
Castlereagh was arguably a successful policymaker. But what did that require? He had to be a strategist, a tactician, a courtier, a whip, an orator, a master of protocol, an ambassador, a traveller, a negotiator, a socialite, and a political campaigner.

3/
Read 15 tweets
Aug 8, 2022
As we turn the corner into the week of August 12, I want to focus this #Castlereagh200 🧵 on a final area of #MentalHealth risk connected to the workplace: job insecurity.

Bear with me though--I turn this one on its head.

#ViscountCastlereagh #twitterstorians

1/14 Detail from 'A Knight of th...
If you've been following these #Castlereagh200 threads, you may call that I'm drawing from a risk framework that forms the basis for my upcoming article on Castlereagh and mental health. See the attached table, adapted from Boini, 2020 and Gollac et al, 2011.

2/14 Image
Job insecurity has long been recognized as a mental health risk. But was Castlereagh's job insecure? No.

Electorally he was in safe seats, only losing his home seat briefly in 1805. His position in Cabinet after 1812 was arguably more secure than Liverpool's.

3/14 Detail from 'Castle-Fish Do...
Read 15 tweets

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