Decembrist revolt
The eldest son of Sir Charles Malet, 1st Baronet, born at Hartham Park, Wiltshire in June 1800, he succeeded to the baronetcy in 1815. He was educated at Winchester College and at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A. 1822), and entered the diplomatic service in 1824 as unpaid attaché at St. Petersburg. There he was an eye-witness to the Decembrist revolt of 1825.