Philip Henry Wodehouse Currie, 1st Baron Currie, (13 October 1834 – 12 May 1906), known as Sir Philip Currie between 1885 and 1899, was a British diplomat. He was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1893 to 1898 and Ambassador to Italy from 1898 to 1902.

Background and education

Currie was the son of

Raikes Currie Raikes Currie (15 April 1801 – 16 October 1881) was Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton from 1837 to 1857. He was a partner of the bank Curries & Co, along with his father, Isaac Currie, in Cornhill, City of London, and had several int ...

, Member of Parliament for

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, and the Hon. Laura Sophia, daughter of John Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse. He was a great-nephew of William Currie and a second cousin of

Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet (3 February 1799 – 11 September 1875) was a British diplomat, who had a distinguished career in the British East India Company and the Indian Civil Service. His posts included Foreign Secretary to the Governmen ...

and Vice-Admiral Mark John Currie. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

.Philip Henry Wodehouse Currie, 1st and last Baron Currie of Hawley
thepeerage.com

Diplomatic career

Currie joined the Foreign Office in 1854. He was an attaché at

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, from 1856 to 1857, and précis writer to the

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

, Lord Clarendon, from 1857 to 1858 and private secretary to another Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury, from 1878 to 1880. He was Assistant

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Permanent Unde ...

from 1882 to 1889 and served as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1893 to 1898 and as Ambassador to Italy from 1898 to 1902. Currie was appointed a CB in 1878, a KCB in 1885 and a GCB in 1892. In 1899 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Currie, of

Hawley Hawley may refer to: * Hawley (surname) Titles * Baron Hawley * Hawley baronets Places named Hawley ;In Australia * Hawley Beach, Tasmania ;In the United Kingdom * Hawley, Hampshire * Hawley, Kent ;In the United States * Hawley, Colorado * ...

in the County of Southampton. From 24 November to 21 December 1898, Currie was one of the British Government delegates to the Rome Anti-Anarchist Congress, with Sir Howard Vincent and Sir Godfrey Lushington.

Personal life

Currie married Mary, daughter of Charles James Savile Montgomerie Lamb and widow of Henry Sydenham Singleton, in 1894. She was a poet under the pen-name

Violet Fane Violet Fane is the literary pseudonym of Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie (''née'' Lamb, 24 February 1843 – 13 October 1905). A poet, a writer, and later an ambassadress, who was active in the British literary scene from 1872 until her death ...

. There were no children from the marriage. She died in October 1905, aged 62. Lord Currie survived her by a year and died in May 1906, aged 71. The title became extinct on his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Philip Henry Wodehouse 1834 births 1906 deaths People educated at Eton College Diplomatic peers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Italy Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria