Philip Henry Wodehouse Currie, 1st Baron Currie, (13 October 1834 – 12 May 1906), known as Sir Philip Currie between 1885 and 1899, was a British diplomat. He was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1888/9 to 1893, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1893 to 1898 and Ambassador to Italy from 1898 to 1902.

Background and education

Currie was the son of Raikes Currie, Member of Parliament for

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, and the Hon. Laura Sophia, daughter of

John Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse John Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse (4 April 1741 – 29 May 1834), known as Sir John Wodehouse, 6th Baronet, from 1777 to 1797, was a British landowner, Member of Parliament and peer. Life Wodehouse was the son of Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Ba ...

. He was a great-nephew of William Currie and a second cousin of

Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet (3 February 1799 – 11 September 1875) was a British diplomat, who had a career in the British East India Company and the Indian Civil Service. His posts included Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Me ...

and Vice-Admiral

Mark John Currie Captain Mark John Currie RN (later Vice-Admiral) played a significant role in the exploration of Australia and the foundation of the Swan River Colony, later named Western Australia. He explored areas in New South Wales, after which he returned ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

.Philip Henry Wodehouse Currie, 1st and last Baron Currie of Hawley
thepeerage.com

Diplomatic career

Currie joined the Foreign Office in 1854. He was an attaché 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 ...

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 1856 to 1857, and précis writer to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Clarendon, from 1857 to 1858 and private secretary to another Foreign Secretary,

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

, from 1878 to 1880. He was Assistant

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State f ...

from 1882 to 1889, when he was made Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1893 to 1898 and as Ambassador to Italy from 1898 to 1902. Currie was appointed a CB in 1878, a KCB in 1885 and a GCB in 1892. In 1899 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Currie, of Hawley in the

County of Southampton Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wilt ...

. From 24 November to 21 December 1898, Currie was one of the British Government delegates to the Rome Anti-Anarchist Congress, with Sir Howard Vincent and Sir Godfrey Lushington.

Personal life

Currie married Mary, daughter of Charles James Savile Montgomerie Lamb and widow of Henry Sydenham Singleton, in 1894. She was a poet under the pen-name

Violet Fane Mary Montgomerie, Lady Currie (''née'' Lamb, 24 February 1843 – 13 October 1905), known by the literary pseudonym Violet Fane, was an English poet, writer, and later an ambassadress. Active in the British literary scene from 1872 until he ...

. There were no children from the marriage. She died in October 1905, aged 62. Lord Currie survived her by a year and died in May 1906, aged 71. The title became extinct on his death.

Assessments

According to Keith Neilson and T. G. Otte, "Philip Currie was not a great permanent head of the Foreign Office... More than any other PUS, Currie was the creature of one of his political masters alisbury"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Philip Henry Wodehouse 1834 births 1906 deaths People educated at Eton College Diplomatic peers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Italy Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria