Born at Braelangwell, Cromarty, Scotland, Urquhart was educated, under the supervision of his widowed mother, in France, Switzerland, and Spain. He returned to Britain in 1821 and spent a gap year learning farming and working at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich before attending St John's College, Oxford. He never completed his classics degree as his mother's finances failed. In 1854 Urquhart married Harriet Angelina Fortescue, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, and the couple had three sons, and two daughters. She wrote numerous articles in the Diplomatic Review under the signature of Caritas, and died in 1889.
In 1827, Urquhart joined the nationalist cause in the Greek War of Independence. Seriously injured, he spent the next few years championing the Greek cause in letters to the British government, a self-promotion that entailed his appointment in 1831 to Sir Stratford Canning's mission to Istanbul to settle the border between Greece and Turkey. Urquhart's principal role was to nurture the support of Koca Mustafa Reşid Pasha, intimate advisor to the Sultan Mahmud II. He found himself increasingly attracted towards Turkish civilisation and culture, becoming alarmed at the threat of Russian intervention in the region. Urquhart's campaigning, including publication of Turkey and its Resources, culminated in his appointment on a trade mission to the region in 1833. He struck such an intimate relationship with the government in Istanbul that he became outspoken in his calls for British intervention on behalf of the Sultan against Muhammad Ali of Egypt in opposition to the policy of Canning. He was recalled by Palmerston just as he published his anti-Moscow pamphlet England, France, Russia and Turkey which brought him into conflict with Richard Cobden. In 1835 he was appointed secretary of embassy at Constantinople, but an unfortunate attempt to counteract Russian aggressive designs in Circassia, which threatened to lead to an international crisis, again led to his recall in 1837. Urquhart's position was aggressively so anti-Russian and Pro-Turkish to the extent that it created difficulties for British politics. In the 1830s, there was no anti-Russian coalition in Europe; it had yet to be created. Britain could suddenly find itself in a situation of military conflict with Russia and, moreover, alone. As a result, Urquhart was recalled from Turkey, and the conflict with Russia was settled by peace talks. There was still a lot of time before the Crimean war. In 1835, before leaving for the East, he founded a periodical called the Portfolio, and in the first issue printed a series of Russian state papers, which made a profound impression. Urquhart was also the designer of the Circassian national flag. Urquhart later publicly accused Palmerston, the head of British foreign policy, of being bribed by Russia. This view was constantly promoted in the London magazines he published. Among the regular authors of his publications was Karl Marx, who fully supported Urquhart's views on Palmerston. Personally, Karl Marx himself, in correspondence with his friend Engels, considered Urquhart a "form of maniac" in his accusations of Palmerston and the worship of the Turks. In 1838 Urquhart published a book, Spirit of the East, where he examines Turkey and Greece, while also drawing on work previously done by Arthur Lumley Davids.
Politics
From 1847 to 1852 he sat in parliament as member for Stafford, and carried on a vigorous campaign against Lord Palmerston's foreign policy. He was against the imposition of sanitary reform, and vehemently opposed the passage of the Public Health Act 1848. The action of the United Kingdom in the Crimean War provoked indignant protests from Urquhart, who contended that Turkey was in a position to fight her own battles without the assistance of other powers. To attack the government, he organized "foreign affairs committees" which became known as Urquhartite, throughout the country, and in 1856 became the owner of the Free Press, which numbered among its contributors the socialist Karl Marx. In 1860 he published his book on Lebanon.
Later life
From 1864 until his death, Urquhart's health compelled him to live on the Continent, he lived in Clarens, Switzerland next to Lake Geneva. Here he devoted his energies to promoting the study of international law. He is buried in Clarens
