Sir Frederick Robert St John (2 March 1831 – 27 February 1923) was a British diplomat.

Background

St John was the fourth son of Hon. Ferdinand St John, third son of

George St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke George Richard St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke and 4th Viscount St John (5 March 1761 – 11 December 1824), styled The Honourable George St John from birth until 1787, was a British peer and politician. He became famous in his own lifetime for ...

and his wife Selina Charlotte Keatinge, daughter of Maurice St Leger Keatinge. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

. In 1855, St John entered the diplomatic service and was sent as attaché to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and then to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. He was promoted to second secretary at the Embassy in

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1862 and afterwards was moved to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and later to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Career

From 1872, he was secretary of legation at the Embassy 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 ...

, from 1877 at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and in 1879 returned as secretary of embassy to Constantinople. Two years later, St John was appointed Minister Resident and Consul-General to Central America and in 1884, he became Minister Resident and Consul-General to the United States of Colombia. Just before the end of the year, he was transferred as Minister Resident to the Republic of Venezuela, an office he held until 1888. St John served subsequently as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Serbia until 1890 and as Consul-General to Serbia until 1892. In the following year, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation. St John retired in 1901 and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(KCMG) in the King's

1901 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1901 were announced 9 November 1901, the birthday of the new monarch Edward VII. The list included appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was published in ''The Ti ...

list, and invested as such by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...

on 17 December 1901.

Family

On 18 April 1882, he married Isabella Annie FitzMaurice, second daughter of Captain Hon. James Terence FitzMaurice, son of

Thomas FitzMaurice, 5th Earl of Orkney Thomas John Hamilton FitzMaurice, 5th Earl of Orkney (8 August 1803 – 16 May 1877) was the son of John FitzMaurice, Viscount Kirkwall and grandson of Mary FitzMaurice, 4th Countess of Orkney. British prime minister, 1st Marquess of Lansd ...

. They had six children, three sons and three daughters.

Peter St John, 9th Earl of Orkney Oliver Peter St John, 9th Earl of Orkney (born 27 February 1938) is the son of Frederick Oliver St John whose parents were Sir Frederic Robert and Lady St. John (née Isabella Annie FitzMaurice). He is a retired Canadian political scientist and ...

is the grandson of this marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John, Frederick Robert 1831 births 1923 deaths People educated at Cheltenham College Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Serbia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Guatemala Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Colombia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Switzerland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Venezuela