Robert Liston (diplomat)
Sir Robert Liston, GCB FRSE PC (8 October 1742 – 15 July 1836)[1][2] was a Scottish diplomat and ambassador to several countries.
Biography
[edit]Liston was born at Overtoun House in Kirkliston, Scotland, the son of Patrick Liston of Torbanehill, West Lothian.[3]
He studied languages at the University of Edinburgh, and then tutored the sons of the Earl of Minto.[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784. His proposers were Andrew Dalzell, William Robertson, and John Drysdale. He was granted an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1785.[3]
Said to be able to speak ten languages,[1] Liston joined the diplomatic service and enjoyed a career spanning Europe appointed on 22 September 1793, eventually arriving at Constantinople on 19 May 1794. He hated it there and left on 4 November 1795.
In a promotion he was posted to the United States.[4] In 1796 he married the heiress Henrietta Marchant of Antigua. Henrietta's charm and social tact were a great asset to her husband; she also kept an interesting diary in which she records favourable impressions of George Washington and John Adams,[5] and an unfavourable impression of Talleyrand. Robert was also on excellent terms with Washington, though relations cooled somewhat after Adams' election.
On 26 March 1812 he was sworn a Privy Councillor, and on 21 October 1816, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Bath.[2] He served for a second time as ambassador to the Sublime Porte from 1812, finally retiring from the post in 1820.[6]
The family lived at Millburn Tower in Ratho. Liston's wife, Henrietta Marchant, died in 1828 and he died at home in 1836.[2] They had no children.[2]
He and his wife are buried in the graveyard of Gogar Kirk. Liston had bought the kirk and burial ground and built a family mausoleum at the site. However, when the kirk was rebuilt in 1890, as there were no descendants to save it, the mausoleum was demolished. It was replaced with a memorial obelisk.[7]
Timeline of career
[edit]
- Secretary of Embassy to the King of Spain (12 March 1783)[8]
- Minister plenipotentiary to Spain (1784)
- Ambassador to Sweden (1788–1793)
- Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1 October 1793 – 1796)
- Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States (10 March 1796 – 1800)
- Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Batavian republic (14 August 1802)
- Extraordinary mission to the King of Denmark (23 June 1803)
- Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (2 March 1812 - 1820)
See also
[edit]- List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to the United States
- List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Sir David Wilkie: Sir Robert Liston, 1742 - 1836". National Galleries of Scotland. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d Urban, Sylvanus (1837). "The Gentleman's Magazine". 6 (161). London: F. Jefferies: 539. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
- ^ a b Taylor, Clare. Simmons, Richard (ed.). "The Liston Papers, 1796-1800" (PDF). Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ McCullough, David. John Adams Simon and Schuster New York 2001
- ^ Hart, Patrick, Kennedy, Valerie & Petherbridge, Dora (eds.) (2020), Henrietta Liston's Travels: The Turkish Journals, 1812 - 1820, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-1-4744-6735-3
- ^ Traynor, Kim. "Sir Robert Liston obelisk, Gogar Kirkyard". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- ^ "St. James's, March 12". The London Gazette. Retrieved 24 December 2008. [dead link]
External links
[edit]
Media related to Robert Liston (diplomat) at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1742 births
- 1836 deaths
- Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Ottoman Empire
- Ambassadors of Great Britain to Sweden
- Ambassadors of Great Britain to the United States
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- 18th-century Scottish people
- 19th-century Scottish people
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire
- Ambassadors of Great Britain to Spain