Sir Beilby Alston (8 October 1868 – 28 June 1929) was a British diplomat who was envoy to various countries.

Career

Beilby Francis Alston was the son of a civil servant at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

(not a diplomat), Sir Francis Alston KCMG. Beilby Alston started as a clerk in the Librarian's Department of the Foreign Office in 1890 and later that year in the Political Division. In 1895 he was posted to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

as acting 3rd Secretary in the Diplomatic Service. He was Secretary to the British Plenipotentiaries at a conference in Paris in 1896 to revise the Berne Convention, then acting 2nd Secretary and ''

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

'' at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

1896–97. He was Secretary to British representatives at conferences at

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1898, 1901, and 1902, leading to the Brussels Sugar Convention of 5 March 1902. Returning to London, Alston was attached to Prince Tsai Suun of China on his mission to England in 1909, and to Prince Tsai-Chen who represented the

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heave ...

at the coronation of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

in June 1911. In December 1911 he was with

Prince Alexander of Teck Major General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; born Prince Alexander of Teck; 14 April 1874 – 16 January 1957), was a British Army commander and major-general who served as Governor- ...

who represented the King at the coronation of

King Rama VI Vajiravudh ( th, วชิราวุธ, , 1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty as Rama VI. He ruled from 23 October 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his effort ...

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

(Thailand), moving on to Peking where he was Counsellor of the

Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

1911–17, and ''chargé d'affaires'' in 1913 and 1916–17 when the

Minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, Sir John Jordan, was absent. Alston was Deputy High Commissioner in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

1918–19 (during the

Siberian Intervention The Siberian intervention or Siberian expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers, Japan, and China to support White Russian fo ...

), then Minister Plenipotentiary in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

1919–20 (under the Ambassador, Sir Charles Eliot), then Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

1920–22, then Minister to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

1923–25, then Ambassador to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from 1925 until his death. In 1932 Alston’s daughter Lucy Evelyn Alston married

Kenneth Benda Charles Kenneth Anton Benda (3 June 1902 – 26 July 1978) was an English actor often on television. He appeared in British television series ''No Hiding Place'', ''The Saint'', '' The Avengers'', ''Z-Cars'', ''The Prisoner'', '' Doctor Who'', '' ...

, a company director who later became an actor.

Honours

Beilby Alston was appointed CB in the King's Birthday Honours of 1913 and knighted KCMG in the Birthday Honours of 1920 and GBE in the Birthday Honours of 1929. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1925. The Emperor of China gave him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Double Dragon in 1909, and the King of Siam made him a Commander of the Order of the White Elephant in 1911.

References

ALSTON, Rt. Hon. Sir Beilby Francis
''Who Was Who'', 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
Sir Beilby Alston – British Ambassador In Brazil
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 29 June 1929, page 14

(family site)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Beilby Francis 1868 births 1929 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Paraguay Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Brazil Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom