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

Family

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

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) 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 Per ...

, and Janet, the eldest daughter of

James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness was a Scottish noble, Earl of Caithness and chief of the Clan Sinclair, a Highland Scottish clan. James Sinclair was born at Barrogill Castle ( Castle of Mey) on 31 May 1766. He was the son of Sir John Sincl ...

. He married first on 4 April 1839 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 Eth ...

(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 Sir James Buchanan, 2nd Baronet DL (7 August 1840 – 16 October 1901) was a British Royal Navy officer and Deputy Lieutenant of Stirlingshire. Family Buchanan was born on 7 August 1840, the son of Rt. Hon. Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet and ...

(7 Aug 1840 – 16 Oct 1901) * Sir Eric Alexander Buchanan, 3rd Baronet (19 Aug 1848 – 29 Jul 1928) *

Andrew Archibald Buchanan Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

(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 Georgiana Eliza, the third daughter of

Robert Walter Stuart, 11th Lord Blantyre The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. Buchanan was related to Sir James Douglas

Career

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

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. On 13 November 1830, he was named paid attaché at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, 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 relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, 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 Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

on 9 November. He was with Sir Charles Vaughan's special mission to Constantinople from March 1837 to September 1838 and then proceeded to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

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 ( ; 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 ...

24 August 1841 and ''

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 ...

'' from July 1842 to October 1843 and from March to May 1844. At

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

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 ...

, and he acted as her majesty's representative at the conference of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

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 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 o ...

(C.B.) o 23 May 1857, He was transferred to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

31 March 1858 and promoted to

Knight Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

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

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

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 A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 3 February 1863. He was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary to Russia on 15 September 1864, raised to

Knight Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

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

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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 Craigend Castle is a ruined country house, located to the north of Milngavie, in Stirlingshire, central Scotland. Early history The lands of Craigend were part of the Barony of Mugdock in medieval times, but the estate was sold in the mid-17th c ...

, in

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; gd, Muileann-Ghaidh) 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. Milngav ...

, near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Arms

Notes

References

External links