Robert Liston (diplomat)

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Sir Robert Liston, GCB, PC (8 October 1742 – 15 July 1836)[1][2] was a British diplomat and ambassador to several countries.

Biography

Liston was born in Kirkliston, Scotland, went up to Edinburgh University, and then tutored the sons of the Earl of Minto.[3] Said to be able to speak ten languages,[1] Liston joined the diplomatic service and enjoyed a career spanning Europe appointed on September 22, 1793, eventually arriving at Contantinople on May 19, 1794. He hated it there and left on November 4, 1795.

In a promotion he was posted to the United States.[3] 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,[4] 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] Liston's wife died in 1828 and he died in 1836.[2] He had no children.[2]

Timeline of career

File:Listonhill.jpg
Listonhill, Robert Liston's residence in Stockholm.
  • Secretary of Embassy to the King of Spain (12 March 1783)[5]
  • 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)

See also

References

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  4. McCullough, David. John Adams Simon and Schuster New York 2001
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Minister to the United States
1796 – 1800
Succeeded by
Anthony Merry

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