Sir Maurice William Ernest de Bunsen, 1st Baronet, (8 January 1852 – 21 February 1932),de BUNSEN, Rt Hon. Sir Maurice (William Ernest)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 was a British diplomat.

Background and early life

De Bunsen was the son of Ernest de Bunsen, second son of

Frances Bunsen Baroness Frances Waddington Bunsen (4 March 1791 – 23 April 1876) was a Welsh painter, author and diplomatic hostess, wife of Christian Charles Josias Bunsen, and the older sister of Lady Llanover. Early life Frances Waddington was born in ...

and Baron von Bunsen,

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

ambassador to London, by Elizabeth Gurney. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, and Christ Church, Oxford, and entered the diplomatic service in 1877.

Diplomatic career

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. The ...

-sympathetic 'Lyons School' of British diplomacy. De Bunsen was appointed

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

in 1879 and Second secretary in 1883. He served as Secretary of Legation in

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

1891–1894, and as Consul- General in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

1894–1897. He was Secretary at

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 ( ...

from 1897 until early September 1902, when he left for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

to be Secretary of Embassy and Minister Plenipotentiary at the British Embassy to France. After three years in that city, he saw his first posting as head of station when he was appointed British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Lisbon in 1905. He was British Ambassador to Spain between 1906 and 1913 and to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

between 1913 and 1914. On 16 July 1914, reporting on what he had been told the previous day at a lunch with Count Heinrich von Lützow, who had learned of the planned aggression against Serbia and was trying to derail what he saw as a coming war, de Bunsen told

Sir Edward Grey Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adhe ...

that "a kind of indictment is being prepared against the Servian Government for alleged complicity in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of the Archduke" and that "the Servian Government will be required to adopt certain definite measures in restraint of nationalistic and anarchistic propaganda, and that Austro-Hungarian Government are in no mood to parley with Servia, but will insist on immediate unconditional compliance, failing which force will be used. Germany is said to be in complete agreement with this procedure." An old hand at the diplomatic game, Von Lutzow made a friend of Bunsen feeling obliged to disclose the truth. However he was a thorough, diligent public servant, and an efficient administrator, who would prove an exemplary wartime record. Reserved, modest and decorous, Sir Maurice would later be forced to resign, but he showed a shrewd alertness to the July crisis. So when he visited

Berchtold Berchtold (also Berthold, Bertold, Bertolt) is a Germanic name, from the Old High German ''beruht'' "bright" or "brightly" and ''waltan'' "rule over". The name comes into fashion in the German High Middle Ages, from about the 11th century. The cogn ...

at his country estate, Buchlau on the 17th they shared a passion for horses. He cabled Sir Arthur Nicholson from Vienna warning him that it was a very grave situation; Austria intended to "compel" Serbia to yield. His wife recorded in her diary

A strong note with ultimatum Lutzow told M is to be sent in the next week probably not acceptable to Serbia.

Whilst he may have believed Austrian innocence Grey had already received the importance of the message loud and clear. The Foreign Minister was reassuringly "charming," and the British showed no further curiosity about the leak of vital information. When on 25 July 1914 Serbia rejected Austria's ultimatum, de Bunsen wrote to Sir Edward Grey "...vast crowds parading the streets and singing patriotic songs till the small hours of the morning." Within a week, the rest of Europe was aflame, and he was recalled to London after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He headed the De Bunsen Committee in 1915, established to determine British wartime policy toward the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, and was also head of a special mission to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

in 1918. He retired from the diplomatic service in 1919.

Honours

De Bunsen was sworn of the Privy Council in 1906 and created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, of Abbey Lodge, Hanover Gate, in the Metropolitan borough of Saint Marylebone, in 1919. He died in February 1932, aged 80, when the baronetcy became extinct.

Family

De Bunsen married, in 1899, Bertha Mary Lowry-Corry. They had four daughters * Hilda Violet Helena de Bunsen (1900-), married firstly Major Guy Yerburgh (d 1926), and secondly Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones * Elizabeth Cicely de Bunsen (1902-), married Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Vivien Campbell Douglas (1902–1977) *Rosaline Margaret De Bunsen (1903-1968) *

Mary de Bunsen Mary de Bunsen (29 May 1910 – 13 April 1982) was a British Air Transport Auxiliary pilot and author. Early life Mary Berta de Bunsen was born in Madrid on 29 May 1910 to Sir Maurice William Ernest (1st Bt) de Bunsen and Bertha Mary Lowry-Co ...

(1910-1982)

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

pilot and author

References

Bibliography

* Fischer, Fritz, ''Griff nach der Weltmacht. Die Kriegszielpolitik des Kaiserlichen Deutschland, 1914-1918'', Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1969 * McMeekin, Sean, July 1914: Countdown to War, London, 2013. * Schmidt, B.E., ''The Coming of the War, 1914'', 2 vols, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930.

Primary sources

* ''British Documents on the Origins of the War, 1898-1914'', ed.

G. P. Gooch George Peabody Gooch (21 October 1873 – 31 August 1968) was a British journalist, historian and Liberal Party politician. A follower of Lord Acton who was independently wealthy, he never held an academic position, but knew the work of histo ...

and Harold Temperley, London, 1926, vols. 1, 8-11.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunsen, Maurice de 1852 births 1932 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Austria-Hungary Ambassadors of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to Spain