Sir Richard Pakenham PC (19 May 1797 – 28 October 1868) was a British diplomat of Anglo-Irish background. He served as

British Ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

from 1843 until 1847, during which time he unsuccessfully worked to prevent the U.S. annexation of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

by establishing British forces there instead.

Early life

Pakenham, the fifth son of Admiral Sir Thomas Pakenham, by his wife, Louisa, daughter of the Right Hon. John Staples, was born at Pakenham Hall, County Westmeath, Ireland. He completed his education at Trinity College, Dublin, and, apparently without waiting to take a degree, entered the Foreign Office on 15 October 1817.

Career

His first appointment was as attaché to his uncle, the

Earl of Clancarty Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty. He had ...

, at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. His next appointment was as secretary of the legation in Switzerland (26 January 1824). On 29 December 1826 he was appointed to the same position in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

; on 12 March 1835, he was promoted to Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico. In this capacity he seems to have been popular and efficient. Perhaps the most troublesome of his negotiations was for the abolition of the slave trade: the Mexican government objected to the right of search, and negotiations dragged on for four years, but he obtained a treaty in 1841. He was in Mexico during the Pastry War between Mexico and France, and in February 1839 was dispatched to

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

with the object of trying to effect a reconciliation between the two countries. On 13 December 1843, while on leave in England, he was made a privy councillor, and on 14 December he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America. Here some thorny questions awaited him. One of his first duties was that of the Oregon boundary. In this negotiation, though he did not carry the British points, he obtained the approval of his government, which signed the Oregon Treaty in 1846. The attitude of Great Britain regarding

proved of greater difficulty. The relations between the two governments were not very cordial and irritation was easily provoked on both sides. Pakenham left Washington on a leave of absence in May 1847, and, after remaining in Europe for an unusually prolonged period, ultimately preferred to retire on a pension rather than return. He resumed his career on 28 April 1851 as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Lisbon. Here, his diplomatic work was less arduous and he rapidly ingratiated himself with the royal family of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. In May 1855, he came to England on leave, and at his own request, on 28 June, retired on pension. However, on 7 August, he was sent back to Lisbon on a special mission to congratulate King

Pedro V of Portugal , house = Braganza , house-type = House , father = Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry , mother = Queen Maria II of Portugal , birth_date = , birth_place = , death_date = , death_place = Necessidad ...

on attaining his majority. He returned to England once more in October 1855, was awarded a diplomatic pension of the second class, and retired to Coolure,

Castlepollard Castlepollard ( or ''Cionn Toirc'') is a village in north County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland. It lies west of Lough Lene and northeast of Lough Derravaragh and Mullingar. Name The name ''Castlepollard'' comes from the name of a castle or ...

, where he died, unmarried in 1868.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pakenham, Richard 1797 births 1868 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from County Westmeath Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States Richard Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mexico Irish diplomats