Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame
| The Right Honourable The Viscount Bertie of Thame GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC |
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| Lord Bertie of Thame, 1915. | |
| British Ambassador to France | |
| In office 1905–1918 |
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| Monarch | Edward VII George V |
| Preceded by | Sir Edmund Monson, Bt |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Derby |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 August 1844 |
| Died | 26 September 1919 |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Feodorowna Cecilia Wellesley (1838-1920) |
Francis Leveson Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC (
/ˈbɑrtɪ əv ˈteɪm/ "barty of tame";[1] 17 August 1844 – 26 September 1919), was a British diplomat. He was Ambassador to Italy between 1903 and 1905 and Ambassador to France between 1905 and 1918.
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[edit] Background and education
Bertie was the second son of Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon, and Elizabeth Harcourt, daughter of George Harcourt. He was educated at Eton.
[edit] Diplomatic career
Bertie entered the Foreign Office in 1863. From 1874 to 1880 he served as Private Secretary to Robert Bourke, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and in 1878 attended the Congress of Berlin. He served as acting senior clerk in the Eastern department from 1882 to 1885, and then later as senior clerk and assistant under-secretary in that department. In 1902 he was rewarded for his services by being made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).[2]
In 1903, Bertie was appointed a Privy Counsellor[3] and made Ambassador to Italy,[4] and then in 1905 became Ambassador to France,[5] a post previously held by his father-in-law, Lord Cowley. Bertie would hold the Paris embassy for the next thirteen years. Having spent most of his career in the Foreign Office, he initially had some trouble adjusting to the role of ambassador, where he had far less control over the development of policy. But in his time at Paris Bertie was able to play a substantial role in strengthening the Entente Cordiale between France and Britain into a genuine alliance, encouraging strong British backing for France during the Moroccan Crises of 1905 and 1911. During these years, he was also showered with honors, being made Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1903,[6] a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) in 1904,[7] and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in 1908, as well as receiving the French Legion of Honor.
Bertie was still ambassador in Paris when the First World War broke out in 1914. Although he was raised to the peerage as Baron Bertie of Thame, in the County of Oxford, in 1915,[8] during the war he was frequently bypassed by special missions directly from the British government, particularly the military mission of Lord Esher, with whom he also came into personal conflict. When Bertie fell ill in April 1918, he was replaced by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Derby, and returned to England. On his retirement, Bertie was made Viscount Bertie of Thame, in the County of Oxford.[9] He never fully recovered from his illness, dying in London on 26 September 1919.
[edit] Family
Bertie married Lady Feodorowna Cecilia Wellesley (1838–1920), daughter of Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley and grandniece of the Duke of Wellington, in 1874. They had one child Vere, who succeeded in the viscountcy.
[edit] References
- ^ G.M. Miller, BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 14.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 27453. p. 4441. 11 July 1902.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 27534. p. 1672. 13 March 1903.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 27518. p. 465. 23 January 1903.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 27755. p. 415. 17 January 1905.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 27560. p. 3525. 2 June 1903.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 27732. p. 7256. 8 November 1904.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 29262. p. 8015. 13 August 1915.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 30968. p. 12490. 22 October 1918.
[edit] Primary sources
- Francis Bertie, The Diary of Lord Bertie of Thame, 1914–1918, edited by Lady Algernon Gordon Lennox, D.B.E., with a foreword by Viscount Grey of Fallodon, New York, George H. Doran company [1924].
[edit] Secondary sources
- Keith Hamilton, Bertie of Thame: Edwardian Ambassador, Woodbridge, Suffolk [England]: Royal Historical Society; Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 1990. ISBN 086193217X
- "Bertie, Francis Leveson, first Viscount Bertie of Thame," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004–2007).
- Zara S. Steiner, The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy 1898-1914 (Cambridge, 1969)
[edit] External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Bertie of Thame
- Detailed biography from the Dictionary of National Biography
- Genealogical survey at thePeerage.com
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Lord Currie |
British Ambassador to Italy 1903–1905 |
Succeeded by Edwin Egerton |
| Preceded by Sir Edmund Monson, Bt |
British Ambassador to France 1905–1918 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Derby |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Bertie of Thame 1918–1919 |
Succeeded by Vere Frederick Bertie |
| Baron Bertie of Thame 1915–1919 |
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- 1844 births
- 1919 deaths
- British diplomats
- Diplomatic peers
- Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Younger sons of earls
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to France
- Bertie family
