Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart, 6th Baronet

[citation needed] Interrupting his career in politics, Shaw Stewart, then aged 27, seized the opportunity to embark on his Grand Tour without hesitation.

He carefully recorded his adventures in a diary which, initially intended for his parents, provides contemporary readers with an exceptional insight in the state of Europe so soon after the first defeat of Napoleon.

[citation needed] In the early years of the 19th Century Europe's eyes were fixed on Napoleon and his tumultuous rise to power which undoubtedly did not escape Shaw Stewart.

Shaw Stewart continued to make additional purchases throughout his life, such as the wine bottle and lock of mane from Napoleon's favourite charger, by tradition Marengo's.

Their marriage produced four sons and four daughters[7][8] The eldest child was Jane Catherine Shaw Stewart who was a leading nurse and at one time she was close to Florence Nightingale.