Henry Stephen Fox (22 September 1791 – 13 October 1846) was a British diplomat.

Life

Born in

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, the only son of General

Henry Edward Fox General Henry Edward Fox (4 March 1755 – 18 July 1811) was a British Army general who served brief spells as Governor of Minorca and Governor of Gibraltar. Family He was a son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland and Lady Caroline Lennox (1723–17 ...

(1755–1811), Henry was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. He matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

in 1809. Fox's wit, charm, love of gambling (shared by his uncle

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

) and manners made him popular in fashionable circles. He also shared his uncle's Whig views and served as attaché with the mission to the Sicilian court (1814–1818) and then with the French mission (1818–1824). In the latter he was arrested for debt and only the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

's intervention got him released. He next served as secretary of legation at Turin (1824), chargé d'affaires at Turin (1824–25), secretary of the legation at Naples (1826–27) and chargé d'affaires at Naples (1827–28). He was gazetted secretary of legation at

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

in 1828, but refused this appointment to become first minister-plenipotentiary and envoy-extraordinary 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 ...

then

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 ...

(with the civil war delaying his departure until 1831). He was there from 1831 to 1836, when he moved to be British ambassador to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, in the midst of disputes over slavery and Canada that seemed likely to lead to war. Fox did not enjoy his American posting and became more and more reclusive (though he did take up botanical collecting), but he still objected to

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

's government sending

Lord Ashburton Baron Ashburton, of Ashburton in the County of Devon, is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1835, the title has been held by members of the Baring f ...

to settle the north-eastern boundary dispute over Fox's head. He was retired from the post in 1843 to clear the way to a successful treaty to solve the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

dispute. He stayed on in Washington, where he died from a drug overdose in 1846 and was buried in the

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

, passing his botanical collection to his nephew Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox 1791 births 1846 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States Drug-related deaths in Washington (state) People from Chatham, Kent Burials at the Congressional Cemetery Henry Stephen