William Henry Wylde (1819–1909) was a British civil servant of 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 ...

, where he was head of the Commercial, Consular, and Slave Trade Departments.

Life

He was the son of William Wylde. His father was British Commissioner in Spain during the First Carlist War, and Wylde was there as his secretary in 1836. In 1846–7 his father was sent to the

Patuleia The Patuleia, Guerra da Patuleia, or Little Civil War was a civil war in Portugal, so called to distinguish it from the 'great' civil war between Dom Pedro and Dom Miguel that ended in 1834. The Patuleia occurred after the Revolution of Maria ...

in Portugal, and Wylde accompanied him, with also his brother Robert Gervas Wylde. Joining the Foreign Office in 1839, Wylde's initial grade was supernumerary clerk; he was promoted to assistant clerk in 1859. He was head of the Commercial and Consular Department from 1865, retiring in 1880. African slaver flag

Wylde was created C.M.G. in 1880. In 1884 he read part of the 1883 diary of

Henry Edward O'Neill Henry Edward O'Neill FRGS, FRAS, RN, (1848–1925) was a Royal Navy officer and British explorer of central Africa. He served as HBM consul, Mozambique. O'Neill was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and Royal Geographical Society, as wel ...

, consul in Mozambique, to the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, of which he had become a Fellow in 1863.

Views

Wylde was a member of the Anti-Slavery Society. He gave evidence to the parliamentary committee on West Africa in 1865. In 1873 he pressed for the continuation of payments to Masaba of the Bida Emirate, as positive for British trade prospects in the area. He was a proponent for the view that the British had duties in West Africa, against those for retrenchment and a reduction of commitments. As head the slave trading department of the Foreign Office, Wylde argued against making a treaty with the Ottoman Empire to allow the Royal Navy to search Ottoman vessels for enslaved people, on the grounds that in these cases distinguishing them from other passengers was difficult. In the early 1870s he considered that the extent of the British consular presence in the Levant was justified in terms of keeping the peace there.

Family

Wylde married in 1846 Elizabeth Mary Massy, daughter of Richard Massy. They had four sons and three daughters. The sons included Augustus Blandy Wylde (1849–1909), African traveller and agent for the Sudan Trading Company. The eldest daughter, Wilhelmina Elizabeth, married Joseph Maghull Yates in 1873, and was mother of Humphrey Yates. The second daughter Mary Ella married

Charles Molesworth Tuke Charles Molesworth Tuke (23 May 1857 – 24 January 1925) was an English surgeon, working in the field of psychiatric care, and first-class cricketer. Life He was born in Chiswick, the son of Thomas Harrington Tuke. Educated at St. Paul's Scho ...

in 1883. Everard William Wylde (1847–1911), the eldest son, married in 1872 Florence Evans, daughter of the Rev. Lewis Evans of Sandbach.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wylde, William Henry 1819 births 1909 deaths British civil servants Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George