Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons
|
The Right Honourable The Viscount Lyons GCB, GCMG, PC |
|
|---|---|
Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons
|
|
| British Ambassador to France | |
|
In office 1867–1887 |
|
| Preceded by | The Earl Cowley |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Lytton |
| British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire | |
|
In office 1865–1867 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Bulwer |
| Succeeded by | Sir Henry Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound |
| British Minister to the United States | |
|
In office 1858–1865 |
|
| Preceded by | The Lord Napier |
| Succeeded by | Sir Frederick Bruce |
| British Minister to Tuscany | |
|
In office 1858–1858 |
|
| Preceded by | Constantine Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby |
| Succeeded by | Peter Campbell Scarlett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 April 1817 |
| Died | 5 December 1887 (aged 70) |
| Education | Winchester College |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons GCB, GCMG, PC (6 April 1817 – 5 December 1887) was an eminent British diplomat.
Born in Lymington, Hampshire, Lyons was the elder son of Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons (1790–1858), naval officer and diplomat, and his wife, Augusta Louisa, née Rogers (1791–1852). After attending Winchester College, he went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated BA in 1838 and MA in 1843. He entered the diplomatic service in 1839 as an unpaid attaché at his father's legation in Greece. In 1844 he was made a paid attaché and transferred to Saxony and then Tuscany. His first major appointment came in December 1858 when he succeeded Lord Napier as British envoy to the United States in Washington.
Lyons reached Washington a full two years before the American Civil War. Like many observers, he believed that the dissolution of the United States was a strong possibility. Lyons had been seen as the best appointment to the United States by the British government, but at first, President James Buchanan was unhappy with the appointment, preferring a "first-rate man whose character was known in this country." A capable envoy was an absolute necessity in Anglo-American relations, since both of Lyons' predecessors at Washington (Napier and Crampton) had been recalled because of scandals.
...
Wikipedia