Robert Murray Keith (died 1774) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He was descended from a younger son of the 2nd

Earl Marischal The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland. History The office of Marischal of Scotland (or ''Marascallus Scotie'' or ''Marscallus Scotiae'') had been hereditary, held by ...

. Keith was minister in

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 1748 and from 1753 Minister-plenipotentiary. In 1757, he transferred to

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 ...

(arriving in 1758) and remained there until October 1762, when the imperial government requested that he be replaced by a nobleman. He then retired to live at the Hermitage near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and subsequently held other important diplomatic appointments, being known to his numerous friends, among whom were the leading men of letters of his time, as "Ambassador Keith." In 1772, George III sent Robert Murray Keith to negotiate for the release of his sister Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark, from imprisonment. Keith succeeded in his mission and on 28 May 1772 the Queen was deported from Denmark on board a British frigate which took her to

Celle Castle Celle Castle (german: Schloss Celle) or, less commonly, Celle Palace, in the German town of Celle in Lower Saxony, was one of the residences of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg. This quadrangular building is the largest castle in the southern ...

in her brother's German territory of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

.Thomas Campbell, ed. ''New monthly magazine'', vol. 85, p. 433 Keith married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Cunningham, 2nd baronet, of Caprington before 1730 when their son

Robert Murray Keith (the younger) Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Murray Keith KCB PC FRSE (the younger) (20 September 1730 – 22 June 1795) was a British soldier, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1775 to 1780. Early life He was born in Edinburgh, th ...

was born. Another son was Sir

Basil Keith Sir Basil Keith (1734 – 15 November 1777) was a British naval officer and Governor of Jamaica. He was born the second son of diplomat Robert Murray Keith and the younger brother of Lieutenant-General Robert Keith. Keith joined the Navy, and ...

, a

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

References

* *. Year of birth missing 1774 deaths Ambassadors of Great Britain to Russia 1690s births Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Holy Roman Emperor {{England-bio-stub