Robert_Liston_(diplomat) Knowpia

Sir Robert Liston, GCB FRSE PC (8 October 1742 – 15 July 1836)^[1]^[2] was a Scottish diplomat and ambassador to several countries.

Biography edit

Liston was born at Overtoun House in Kirkliston, Scotland, the son of Patrick Liston of Torbanehill, West Lothian.^[3]

He studied languages at the University of Edinburgh, and then tutored the sons of the Earl of Minto.^[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784. His proposers were Andrew Dalzell, William Robertson, and John Drysdale. He was granted an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1785.^[3]

Said to be able to speak ten languages,^[1] Liston joined the diplomatic service and enjoyed a career spanning Europe appointed on 22 September 1793, eventually arriving at Constantinople on 19 May 1794. He hated it there and left on 4 November 1795.

In a promotion he was posted to the United States.^[4] In 1796 he married the heiress Henrietta Marchant of Antigua. Henrietta's charm and social tact were a great asset to her husband; she also kept an interesting diary in which she records favourable impressions of George Washington and John Adams,^[5] and an unfavourable impression of Talleyrand. Robert was also on excellent terms with Washington, though relations cooled somewhat after Adams' election.

On 26 March 1812 he was sworn a Privy Councillor, and on 21 October 1816, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Bath.^[2] He served for a second time as ambassador to the Sublime Porte from 1812, finally retiring from the post in 1820.^[6]

The family lived at Millburn Tower in Ratho. Liston's wife, Henrietta Marchant, died in 1828 and he died at home in 1836.^[2] They had no children.^[2]

He and his wife are buried in the graveyard of Gogar Kirk. Liston had bought the kirk and burial ground and built a family mausoleum at the site. However, when the kirk was rebuilt in 1890, as there were no descendants to save it, the mausoleum was demolished. It was replaced with a memorial obelisk.^[7]

Timeline of career edit

Listonhill, Robert Liston's residence in Stockholm.

Secretary of Embassy to the King of Spain (12 March 1783)^[8]
Minister plenipotentiary to Spain (1784)
Ambassador to Sweden (1788–1793)
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1 October 1793 – 1796)
Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States (10 March 1796 – 1800)
Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Batavian republic (14 August 1802)
Extraordinary mission to the King of Denmark (23 June 1803)
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (2 March 1812 - 1820)

References edit

^ ^a ^b "Sir David Wilkie: Sir Robert Liston, 1742 - 1836". National Galleries of Scotland. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Urban, Sylvanus (1837). "The Gentleman's Magazine". 6 (161). London: F. Jefferies: 539. Retrieved 26 December 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Clare. Simmons, Richard (ed.). "The Liston Papers, 1796-1800" (PDF). Retrieved 23 December 2008.
^ McCullough, David. John Adams Simon and Schuster New York 2001
^ Hart, Patrick, Kennedy, Valerie & Petherbridge, Dora (eds.) (2020), Henrietta Liston's Travels: The Turkish Journals, 1812 - 1820, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-1-4744-6735-3
^ Traynor, Kim. "Sir Robert Liston obelisk, Gogar Kirkyard". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
^ "St. James's, March 12". The London Gazette. Retrieved 24 December 2008. ^{[dead link]}