Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet, GCB, PC, DL (7 May 1807 – 12 November 1882) was a British diplomat.

Family

Buchanan was the only son of James Buchanan of Blairvadach, Ardinconnal,

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Perthshire to the north, Stirling ...

, and Janet, the eldest daughter of James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness. On 4 April 1839, he married Frances Katharine, the daughter of the Very Rev Edward Mellish,

dean of Hereford The Dean of Hereford is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Blessed Virgin Mary and St Et ...

. She died 4 December 1854. The children from this marriage were: * Louisa Buchanan (d. 19 Jan 1923) * Frances Matilda Buchanan (d. 13 Dec 1908) * Sir James Buchanan, 2nd Baronet (7 Aug 1840 – 16 Oct 1901) * Sir Eric Alexander Buchanan, 3rd Baronet (19 Aug 1848 – 29 Jul 1928) * Andrew Archibald Buchanan (16 Jan 1850 – 5 Oct 1932) *Rt. Hon. Sir George William Buchanan (25 Nov 1854 – 20 Dec 1924) Secondly, on 27 May 1857, Buchanan married Hon. Georgiana Elizabeth Stuart, the third daughter of Robert Walter Stuart, 11th Lord Blantyre. Buchanan was related to Sir James Douglas.

Career

Buchanan entered the diplomatic service 10 October 1825 and was attached to the embassy at

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. On 13 November 1830, he was named paid attaché at Rio de Janeiro, but he did not remain long in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, as he served temporarily with Sir Stratford Canning's special embassy to Constantinople from 31 October 1831 to 18 September 1832. He later became paid attaché at Washington, D.C. on 9 November. He was with Sir Charles Vaughan's special mission to Constantinople from March 1837 to September 1838 and then proceeded to

Saint 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 ...

as paid attaché on 6 October 1838. Few men seem to have gone through a greater number of changes in the diplomatic service; he was secretary of legation 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 ...

24 August 1841 and ''

chargé d'affaires A (), 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. The term is Frenc ...

'' from July 1842 to October 1843 and from March to May 1844. At Saint Petersburg he was secretary of legation 1844 and between that time and 1851 several times acted as chargé d'affaires. From 1852, he was for one year Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation. In 1853, he was named envoy extraordinary to the

king of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe Is ...

, and he acted as her majesty's representative at the conference of Copenhagen in November 1855 for the definite arrangement of the Sound Dues question. He had been appointed a

Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(C.B.) o 23 May 1857, He was transferred to Madrid 31 March 1858 and promoted to

Knight Commander Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...

(K.C.B.) 25 February 1860 and then to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

on 11 December 1860. He became ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

28 October 1862 for which he was sworn to the Privy Council. He served on the Privy Council on 3 February 1863. He was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary to the Russian Empire on 15 September 1864, raised to

Knight Grand Cross A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(G.C.B.) on 6 July 1866 and made ambassador to

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

from 16 October 1871 to 16 February 1878, when he retired on a pension. 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 14 December 1878 and died at Craigend Castle, in

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter t ...

, near Glasgow.

Arms

Notes

References

External links

Biography and list of archive material relating to Sir Andrew Buchanan, held at Manuscripts and Special Collections at The University of Nottingham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Andrew 1807 births 1882 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Russian Empire 1

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Prussia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Austria-Hungary Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Switzerland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain