Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther, 1st Baronet, (16 February 1858 – 5 April 1916) was a British diplomat.

Diplomatic career

Lowther was educated at Harrow and entered the diplomatic service in 1879. He served in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. De Bunsen was trained in the diplomatic service by

Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 1st Earl Lyons (26 April 1817 – 5 December 1887) was a British diplomat, who was the favourite diplomat of Queen Victoria, during the four great crises of the second half of the 19th century: Italian unificat ...

, and was a member of the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

-sympathetic 'Lyons School' of British diplomacy. In August 1901, Lowther was appointed

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. He arrived at Santiago to take up his position in March 1902. Lowther later served in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

and finally as ambassador in

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 (" ...

. During his diplomatic career in Constantinople, Lowther translated and distributed

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

texts. He was made a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in 1904, 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, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

and a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

in 1908 and a baronet in 1914 and promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1911.

Family

Lowther was the second son of William Lowther and his wife Charlotte Alice, daughter of

James Parke, 1st Baron Wensleydale James Parke, 1st Baron Wensleydale PC (22 March 1782 – 25 February 1868) was a British barrister and judge. After an education at The King's School, Macclesfield and Trinity College, Cambridge he studied under a special pleader, before be ...

James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater, (1 April 1855 – 27 March 1949), was a British Conservative politician. He was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1905 and 1921. He was the longest-serving Speaker of the 20th century. Back ...

, was his elder brother and Sir Cecil Lowther his younger brother. He married Alice Blight, the daughter of

Atherton Blight Atherton Blight (November 10, 1834 – November 4, 1909) was a Philadelphia lawyer, businessperson, author, diarist, and philanthropist who traveled extensively in the middle of the 19th century to Europe and the Middle East. Blight was also a fou ...

, on 28 February 1905, in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, and had three daughters: * Edith Alice Cecilia, born 1906, married 1st (1933) Baron Jacques Thénard (k.a. 1940) and 2nd (1945) Roger Levêque de Vilmorin, a natural son of

Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

, and had issue from the first marriage * Gladys Mabel, born 1908, married 1st (20 December 1933) Capt. Charles Neville Fane (1911–1940, k.a.) and 2nd James Black. By her first marriage, she was the mother of Gerald Trefusis, 22nd Baron Clinton. * Violet Eleanor (20 September 1910 – 17 January 1911) During the First World War his American-born wife, Alice, Lady Lowther, was the joint hon. secretary of the American Women's War Relief Fund and chair of the Belgian Prisoners in Germany Relief Fund.The Times Online. Lowther died in April 1916, aged 58, when the baronetcy became extinct. Lady Lowther died in November 1939.

References

Sources

*Burke's Peerage 1909 *Debrett's Peerage 1961

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowther, Gerard, 1st Baronet 1858 births 1916 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Harrow School Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...