View source for Robert Liston (diplomat)

{{Short description|British diplomat (1742–1836)}}
{{For|the pioneering Scottish surgeon|Robert Liston}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Wilkie - Sir Robert Liston, Diplomat.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[The Right Honourable|Rt. Hon.]] Sir Robert Liston]]
'''Sir Robert Liston,''' [[Order of the Bath|GCB]] [[FRSE]] [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]]  (8 October 1742 &ndash; 15 July 1836)<ref name=galleries>{{cite web |title=Sir David Wilkie: Sir Robert Liston, 1742 - 1836 |url=http://www.nationalgalleries.org/index.php/collection/online_az/4:322/results/0/3012/ |publisher=National Galleries of Scotland |accessdate=2008-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010220555/http://www.nationalgalleries.org/index.php/collection/online_az/4:322/results/0/3012 |archive-date=10 October 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=obit>{{cite journal |first=Sylvanus |last=Urban |title=The Gentleman's Magazine |publisher=F. Jefferies |volume=6 |issue=161 |place=London |year=1837 |page=539 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qaklrCCQQgsC |accessdate=2008-12-26}}</ref> was a [[United Kingdom|Scottish]] diplomat and ambassador to several countries.
==Biography==
Liston was born at Overtoun House in [[Kirkliston]], [[Scotland]], the son of Patrick Liston of Torbanehill, [[West Lothian]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf}}</ref>
He studied languages at the [[University of Edinburgh]], and then tutored the sons of the [[Earl of Minto]].<ref name=papers>{{cite web |title=The Liston Papers, 1796-1800 |url=http://www.microform.co.uk/guides/R97489.pdf |author=Taylor, Clare |editor=Simmons, Richard |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] in 1784. His proposers were [[Andrew Dalzell]], [[William Robertson (historian)|William Robertson]], and [[John Drysdale (moderator)|John Drysdale]]. He was granted an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1785.<ref name=":0" />
Said to be able to speak ten languages,<ref name=galleries/> Liston joined the [[Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service|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]].<ref name=papers/> In 1796 he married the heiress [[Henrietta Liston|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]],<ref>[[David McCullough|McCullough, David]]. ''[[John Adams (book)|John Adams]]''  Simon and Schuster  New York 2001</ref> 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 [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Councillor]], and on 21 October 1816, he was awarded the [[Order of the Bath|Grand Cross of the Bath]].<ref name=obit/>  He served for a second time as ambassador to the [[Sublime Porte]] from 1812, finally retiring from the post in 1820.<ref>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}}</ref>
The family lived at Millburn Tower in [[Ratho]]. Liston's wife, Henrietta Marchant, died in 1828 and he died at home in 1836.<ref name=obit/> They had no children.<ref name=obit/>
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]].<ref name=geograph>{{cite web |title=Sir Robert Liston obelisk, Gogar Kirkyard |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3176671 |author=Traynor, Kim |accessdate=2017-01-04}}</ref>
==Timeline of career==
[[File:Listonhill.jpg|thumb|240px|Listonhill, Robert Liston's residence in [[Stockholm]].]]
*Secretary of Embassy to the King of Spain (12 March 1783)<ref>{{cite news |title=St. James's, March 12 |url=http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=12422&geotype=London&gpn=3&type=ArchivedIssuePage&all=&exact=Robert%20Liston&atleast=&similar= |newspaper=The London Gazette |accessdate=2008-12-24}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
*Minister plenipotentiary to Spain (1784)
*Ambassador to Sweden (1788–1793)
*[[List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire|Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire]] (1 October 1793 – 1796)
*[[Envoy (title)|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)
==See also==
*[[List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to the United States]]
*[[List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
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{{succession box|title=[[British Ambassador to the United States|British Minister to the United States]]|before=[[George Hammond (diplomat)|George Hammond]]|after=[[Anthony Merry]]|years=1796{{spaced ndash}}1800}}
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[[Category:1742 births]]
[[Category:1836 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Great Britain to Sweden]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Great Britain to the United States]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Great Britain to Spain]]