Newspaper proprietor and journalist. Originally a printer, he bought the Morning Post in 1795 and turned it into the leading anti-government newspaper and a very profitable venture. Though he sold the Morning Post in 1803, he retained an interest in the Courier, which he acquired in 1800–1801, though it is disputed how much influence he had over the newspaper’s contents. Stuart employed Southey to write poems for the Morning Post at a guinea a week in 1798–1799, and again in 1801–1803. This ‘laureateship’ was crucial to Southey’s finances. He invited Southey to contribute to the Courier in November 1807 and in that same month included excerpts from Letters from England in the paper (on 17th and 20th). Southey continued to order the Courier as his daily paper and occasionally published poems there, including a sonnet praising Lord Percy for his involvement in the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and a controversial ode (‘Who counsels peace’) attacking British policy towards Bonaparte in 1814.