ABSTRACT
In the early years of his career Charles Whitworth learned much which served him well in his later career. His brief period of employment in the Board of Trade made him aware of the importance of commercial factors in both domestic and foreign policy. Whitworth started his career in the lowly post of clerk at the Board of Trade, probably in 1696, the year in which the Board was created. Whitworth’s brief employment at the Board also, however, must have given him some valuable insights into commercial issues and into the extent to which commercial pressures could influence domestic and foreign policy. More specifically, Whitworth was in the employment of the Board at precisely the time of a bitter debate over the privileges of the Russia Company. Whitworth was starting out in his career without the advantages of great connections or wealth. Whitworth’s stay in Brandenburg-Prussia had also introduced him to some of the many discomforts of diplomatic life.
