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Sir John Walsham, 2nd Baronet (29 October 1830 – 10 December 1905) was a British diplomat who was envoy to China and Romania. He was given the rank of

Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

in Paris.

Career

Walsham was the eldest son of Sir John James Walsham, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School and

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 ...

. He joined the Audit Office in March 1854 but transferred to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

that October. He served in Mexico 1857–65, including acting as ''

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 ...

'' 1863–65. He served in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

1866–70 at a time when the Spanish forts on the

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would fire on passing merchant ships if they failed to display their national flags. Walsham was a commissioner dealing with the arbitration of claims under an agreement of 1865, such as that of the schooner ''Mermaid'', of Dartmouth, alleged to have been sunk by the fort at

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

. In 1870 Walsham moved 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 ...

, and in 1873 he was nominated as secretary of legation at

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

but did not go there; instead he withdrew from the service because of the illness of his father, who died on 10 August 1874. Walsham, having succeeded to the baronetcy, rejoined the service in January 1875 and was posted back to Madrid, then in 1878 to Berlin, and in 1883 to Paris where he was given the rank of

in the absence of the Ambassador. In 1885 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of China and the King of Korea. After seven years his health deteriorated due to the heavy work and the climate, and he returned to Europe and was envoy to Romania 1892–94. He retired in 1894 and was knighted KCMG in February 1895.

References

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External links

Walsham, Sir John (1830-1905) 2nd Baronet Diplomat
UK National Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsham, John, 2nd Baronet 1830 births 1905 deaths People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Korea Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Romania Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George