Sir John Walsham, 2nd Baronet (29 October 1830 – 10 December 1905) was a British diplomat who was envoy to China and Romania.
Career
Walsham was the eldest son of
Sir John James Walsham, 1st Baronet. He was educated at
Bury St Edmunds Grammar School
King Edward VI School is a co-educational Comprehensive school, comprehensive secondary school in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The school in its present form was created in 1972 by the merging of King Edward VI Grammar School, with the Silv ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the Audit Office in March 1854 but transferred to 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 ...
that October. He served in Mexico 1857–65, including acting as ''
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 ...
'' 1863–65. He served in
Madrid 1866–70 at a time when the Spanish forts on the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
would fire on passing merchant ships if they failed to display their national flags. Walsham was a commissioner dealing with the arbitration of claims under an agreement of 1865, such as that of the schooner ''Mermaid'', of
Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to:
Places
* Dartmouth, Devon, England
** Dartmouth Harbour
* Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States
* Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
* Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia
Institutions
* Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...
, alleged to have been sunk by the fort at
Ceuta. In 1870 Walsham moved to
The Hague, and in 1873 he was nominated as secretary of legation at
Peking but did not go there; instead he withdrew from the service because of the illness of his father, who died on 10 August 1874. Walsham, having succeeded to the baronetcy, rejoined the service in January 1875 and was posted back to Madrid, then in 1878 to Berlin, and in 1883 to Paris where he was given the rank of
Minister Plenipotentiary in the absence of the Ambassador. In 1885 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of China and the King of Korea. After seven years his health deteriorated due to the heavy work and the climate, and he returned to Europe and was envoy to Romania 1892–94. He retired in 1894 and was knighted KCMG in February 1895.
References
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External links
Walsham, Sir John (1830-1905) 2nd Baronet Diplomat UK National Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsham, John, 2nd Baronet
1830 births
1905 deaths
People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Korea
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Romania
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George