Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier and 1st Baron Ettrick, (15 September 1819 – 19 December 1898) was a British

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and colonial

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

. He served as the British Minister to the United States from 1857 to 1859,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

from 1859 to 1860,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

from 1861 to 1864,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

from 1864 to 1866 and as the

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized ...

from 1866 to 1872. He also acted as the

Governor-General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

from February to May 1872. Francis Napier was born on 15 September 1819 to

William Napier, 9th Lord Napier William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier, Baron Napier () FRSE (13 October 1786 – 11 October 1834) was a British Royal Navy officer and trade envoy in China. Early life Napier was born in Kinsale, Ireland, on 13 October 1786.Laughton, J. K.. "N ...

and had his early education through private tutors. He joined the

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1835 but did not complete his graduation. Instead, he mastered foreign languages and served as a diplomat in foreign missions. In 1866, he was appointed Governor of Madras and served from 1866 to 1872. On the assassination of the Earl of Mayo, the then Viceroy of India in February 1872, Napier was appointed to act temporarily as the Viceroy of India and served from February to May 1872. Napier returned to the United Kingdom in July 1872 and in his later life, chaired the

Napier Commission The Napier Commission, officially the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands was a royal commission and public inquiry into the condition of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and ...

. Napier died at

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 18 December 1898 at the age of 79. Napier was made a

Knight of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

in 1864. In 1872, he was created Baron Ettrick in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in recognition of his services in India.

Early life and education

Francis Napier was born on 15 September 1819 to William John Napier, the 9th Lord Napier of Merchistoun and his wife, Elizabeth Cochrane-Johnstone at

Thirlestane Castle Thirlestane Castle is a castle set in extensive parklands near Lauder in the Scottish Borders, Borders of Scotland. The site is aptly named Castle Hill, as it stands upon raised ground. However, the raised land is within Lauderdale, the valley o ...

Selkirkshire Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. It de ...

. He was the eldest son of the couple. Napier had his early education in private and was schooled at

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen ( ; ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day Germany, German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ern ...

. He joined

in 1835 but did not complete his graduation. However, he acquired a knowledge of a few foreign languages under the tutorship of one Rev. Walter Patterson. Napier became the 10th Lord Merchistoun on the death of his father William John Napier on 11 October 1834.

Diplomatic career

Due to his fluency in multiple languages, Napier's lack of educational qualifications was overlooked and he entered the diplomatic service in 1840. He was appointed to the British embassy at Vienna and later, Constantinople, where he served as an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

. In 1848, Napier was appointed Secretary of the British delegation at

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. He served as the Acting Ambassador for a period of eighteen months in Naples, when Italy was embroiled in the Sicilian insurrection. After his experience in Naples, he found time to publish a book assessing contemporary painters in Naples. An aristocratic haughtiness regarding the local populace infuses his writing, dismissing the skills of more than one artist, and in reactionary fashion, the revolutionary instincts of the masses. In the preface, he writes: Napier's handling of affairs as acting ambassador in Naples impressed the then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Palmerston. He was posted to the British embassy at St Petersburg, where he became a close confidante of Tsar Alexander II. After serving short, satisfactory terms at the British embassies at

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and Constantinople, Napier was appointed envoy extraordinaire and minister plenipotentiary to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and served from 1857 to 1859. Napier's tenure in Washington was soon mired in controversy. The abolitionist

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American ...

and elements of the Northern press accused the British minister of being a pro-slavery partisan. More damaging still in the eyes of the British government was the claim that he had taken upon himself to declare in conversations that Britain recognized the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine is a foreign policy of the United States, United States foreign policy position that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign ...

, when all the British governments till then had repudiated it. Critics at the Foreign Office accused him of "giving up everything the United States can wish for, even before they ask it", which for them explained Napier's immense popularity with Washington's influential residents. He was recalled and given the less sensitive post of minister to the Netherlands. Napier served there from 1859 to 1861 and in Prussia from 1864 to 1866. He was then appointed Governor of Madras in 1866 and served from 27 March 1866 to 19 February 1872.

Governor of Madras

As soon as Napier took office as the Governor of Madras, he was faced with a severe famine in

Ganjam District Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

. He took the services of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

whom he had known in Constantinople. Napier undertook many major irrigation schemes during his tenure. The Pennar Dam was completed during his tenure and two other irrigation works, the Rushikulya Dam in Ganjam and the

Mullaperiyar Dam Mullaperiyar Dam () is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River of Idukki district of Indian state of Kerala. It is situated 150 km south east of Kochi and 200 km north east of state capital city of Trivandrum. It is located above the sea ...

were conceived during his tenure. Despite being at odds with different viceroys over financial issues throughout his tenure, Napier was able to resolve disputes in an amicable manner due to the friendly relations he had with

Sir John Lawrence John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, (4 March 1811 – 27 June 1879), known as Sir John Lawrence, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was a prominent British Imperial statesman and served as the Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869. Earl ...

and well as his successor,

Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, (; ; 21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1842 to 1867 and Lord Mayo in India, was a prominent British statesman and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secreta ...

. When the Earl of Mayo was assassinated in the Andamans on 8 February 1872, Napier was designated to act as the Viceroy of India and he served for a short time before being relieved by Lord Northbrook. For his creditable performance as Governor of Madras, Napier was created Baron Ettrick of Ettrick in the peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1869, Napier constructed the

Napier Bridge Napier Bridge is a road bridge over the Coovum River in Chennai, India. It connects Fort St. George with the Marina Beach, and is one of the historic structures and landmarks of the city. The first iron bridge was built in 1869, which was re ...

across the Coovum River in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. The

Napier Park Napier Park is a suburb of Luton, in the south of the town, in Bedfordshire, England. It is roughly bounded by Harrowden Road to the north, the Midland Main Line to the south, Luton Airport to the east, and Devon Road to the West. Napier Park is ...

in Chennai and the

Napier Museum The Napier Museum is an art and natural history museum situated in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The Museum is grounds to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, one of the oldest zoological gardens in India. The zoo was established in 1857 over of land. ...

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

were set up in his memory. Between 1866 and 1872, he had partially restored the

Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal is a palace completed in 1636 by Tirumala Nayaka, a king of the Madurai Nayak dynasty, who ruled Madurai from 1623 to 1659. It is located to the southeast of the Meenakshi Amman Temple in central Madurai. The presen ...

as well, which was earlier demolished considerably by Grandson of King Thirumalai Nayak. In addition there is a surgical ward in Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai, named in his honor. The ward was originally built with the help of donations by the Governor Napier.

Later life and death

At the end of his term as acting Viceroy of India, Napier returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and acted as the President of the Social Science Association during its meetings at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in October 1874. During this time, Napier also served in the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) was ...

. Lord Napier continued, both in England and in Scotland, to take great interest in social questions. He was the chairman of the

(the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands) which was appointed in 1883 and reported in 1884. Napier died in

on 19 December 1898 at the age of 79.

Honours

Napier was appointed to Privy Council in 1861 and made a

in 1864.

Family

Napier married Anne Jane Charlotte (1824–1911) on 2 September 1845. The couple had four sons. * William Napier, 11th Lord Napier (1846–1913) * John Scott (1848–1928) * R. N. Basil (1850–1874) * Mark Francis (1852–1919)

Portrait

''The New York Times'' gives a short physical description of Napier on his appointment as Viceroy of India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Napier, Francis Napier, 10th Lord 1819 births 1898 deaths Nobility from the Scottish Borders 1

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

Diplomatic peers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Russian Empire Knights of the Thistle Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Prussia Governors of Madras Members of the London School Board Lords Napier Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria

207 Year 207 (Roman numerals, CCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 960 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...