Sir Horace (Horatio) Mann, 1st Baronet KB (8 August 1706 – 6 November 1786), was a long-standing

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, ...

resident and diplomat in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Life and career

Mann was the second son of Robert Mann (1678–1751), a successful

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

merchant, and his wife, and Eleanor Guise Mann. He was baptised at St Martin's in the Fields, Middlesex, on 22 August 1706, brought up at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, and educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and later, briefly, at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. Suffering from poor health, he travelled on the continent in the 1730s. In February 1737, he was appointed as secretary to Charles Fane, the British Minister at Florence. He then served as

diplomatic representative there to the

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for the rest of his life. In the course of his long diplomatic career, he was

Chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

in 1738-1740; Minister between 1740 and 1765; Envoy Extraordinary from 1767; and finally Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from 1782 until his death.D. B. Horn, ''British Diplomatic Representatives 1689-1789'' (Camden 3rd Ser. 46, 1932) As Great Britain had no diplomatic representation at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Mann's duties included reporting on the activities of the exiled Stuarts,

the Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

and

the Young Pretender Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

. Mann kept an open house for British visitors at Palazzo Manetti, Florence, inviting them for ''conversazione'' when there was no performance at the theatre. His generosity and kindness was well known, although his close friendship with the painter

Thomas Patch Thomas Patch (March 13, 1725 – April 30, 1782) was an English painter, printmaker in etching, physiognomist and art historian. He made a living from painting views of Florence and Tivoli and appears to have sold a number of painted caricatu ...

(expelled from Rome after a homosexual incident) reflected on his reputation.Hugh Belsey, "Mann, Sir Horatio, first baronet (bap. 1706, d. 1786)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004. He met

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

(to whom he was distantly related) in 1739, and conducted a now-renowned correspondence with him over forty years, though they last met in 1741. The correspondence was published by Lord Dover in 1833. In recognition of his service he was 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 14th ...

on 3 March 1755. and made a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

on 26 October 1768. (when his nephew

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

stood proxy). In 1775, on the death of his elder brother, Edward Mann, Horace Mann inherited the

Linton Park Linton Park, formerly Linton Place or Linton Hall, is a large 18th-century country house in Linton, Kent, England. Built by Robert Mann in 1730 to replace a much earlier building called 'Capell's Court' The estate passed through the ownership of ...

estate which his father had bought at

Linton, Kent Linton is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the Greensand ridge, south of Maidstone on the A229 Hastings road. The name Linton comes from Old English, probab ...

. He died unmarried in Florence on 6 November 1786 and was buried in Linton on 17 February 1787. His nephew, Horace, inherited his baronetcy by

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the n ...

and also acted as Chargé d'affaires until the arrival of his replacement.

References

Notes Bibliography *Hugh Belsey
‘Mann, Sir Horatio, first baronet (bap. 1706, d. 1786)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2009, accessed 1 Nov 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Horace, 1st Baronet 1706 births 1786 deaths People educated at Eton College Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Diplomats from Florence British diplomats