Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame

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George V
Preceded bySir Edmund Monson, Bt
Succeeded byThe Earl of Derby
Personal details
Born17 August 1844
Died26 September 1919 (1919-09-27) (aged 75)
NationalityBritish
SpouseLady Feodorowna Cecilia Wellesley (1838–1920)
Children1
Parent(s)Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon
Elizabeth Harcourt

Francis Leveson Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame,

Ambassador to France
between 1905 and 1918.

Background and education

Bertie was the second son of the 6th Earl of Abingdon and Elizabeth Harcourt, daughter of George Harcourt. He was educated at Eton. From his great grandmother Charlotte Warren he had Dutch and Huguenot ancestral roots from the Schuyler family, the Van Cortlandt family, and the Delancey family of British North America.[2]

Diplomatic career

Bertie entered 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) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902.[3][4] He received the knighthood in a private audience with King Edward VII on 2 August, during the King's convalescence on board HMY Victoria and Albert.[5]

In January 1903, Bertie was made

Ambassador to France,[9] 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

Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) in 1904,[11] and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in 1908, as well as receiving the French Legion of Honour
.

Bertie's career coincided with that of

First World War.[12] As early as 1906 there were discussions about the possibility of a German invasion of France, yet always the proviso that it was in doubt, "that matters might be brought to a point in which a pacific issue would be difficult." However, giving a positive assurance to France might be dependent on the circumstances. Bertie negotiated closely with Théophile Delcassé the foreign minister "toute occasion de concerter avec le Gouvernement Francais," warning them of the revulsion for war in France. He was careful always not to "cause offence to Germany" which characterised the effects of a diplomatic round shuttling between capital cities. David Owen argues that this placed too great a reliance on the Admiralty and War Office to promise unequivocal support of a British Expeditionary Force. It was his view that Germany would try to dissuade France from our friendship. He was of the school that believed that reductions in Naval estimates would not appease German preparations for aggression.[13]

When Clemenceau became Prime Minister in France he pledged never to break the agreements (rompre des accords) with Britain. Bertie was concerned about the integrity of secret diplomatic lines of communication and the prompt arrival of dispatches.

Berlin-Baghdad Railway
.

He sold the manor of North Weston (now in Great Haseley) and his lands there in 1913, and the estate was divided up.[17]

Bertie was still ambassador in Paris when the First World War broke out in August 1914. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Bertie of Thame, in the County of Oxford, in 1915.

Romanovs being allowed to go into exile in France as the ex-Empress Alexandra was perceived as pro-German.[19]

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.[20] In June 1919, he sold off the manors of Beckley and Horton-cum-Studley, Oxfordshire, which he had inherited from his father.[21][22] He never fully recovered from his illness, dying in London on 26 September 1919.

Family

Bertie married Lady Feodorowna Cecilia Wellesley (1838–1920), daughter of the 1st Earl Cowley and grandniece of the 1st Duke of Wellington, in 1874. They had one child: Vere Bertie, 2nd Viscount Bertie of Thame, who succeeded in the viscountcy.

Arms

Coat of arms of Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame
Crest
A Saracen's head affrontee couped at the shoulders Proper ducally crowned Or and charged on the chest with a fret Azure.
Escutcheon
Argent three battering-rams fessewise in pale Proper armed and garnished Azure.
Supporters
Dexter a friar vested in russet grey with a crutch and rosary all Proper, sinister a savage Proper wreathed about the temples and waist with leaves Vert, and each charged on the breast with a fret Azure a crescent for difference.
Motto
Virtus Ariete Fortior (Valour Is Stronger Than A Battering Ram)[23]

References

  1. ^ G.M. Miller, BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 14.
  2. ^ The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe http://www.thepeerage.com/p2618.htm#i26171. Accessed 11 February 2015.
  3. ^ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  4. ^ "No. 27453". The London Gazette. 11 July 1902. p. 4441.
  5. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36837. London. 4 August 1902. p. 4.
  6. ^ "New British Ambassador to Italy". The Times. No. 36969. London. 5 January 1903. p. 4.
  7. ^ "No. 27518". The London Gazette. 23 January 1903. p. 465.
  8. ^ "No. 27534". The London Gazette. 13 March 1903. p. 1672.
  9. ^ "No. 27755". The London Gazette. 17 January 1905. p. 415.
  10. ^ "No. 27560". The London Gazette. 2 June 1903. p. 3525.
  11. ^ "No. 27732". The London Gazette. 8 November 1904. p. 7256.
  12. ^ Grey to Bertie, 15 Jan 1906; British Docs, vol.III, p.177
  13. ^ Grey to Lascelles, 31 Jan 1906; British Docs, vol.III, p.184
  14. ^ 21, 22 Nov 1906, Bertie to Grey; Owen, pp.71-2
  15. ^ Letters, 25 and 29 Aug 1911 to Grey; Owen, p.111
  16. ^ British Docs, vol.X, pt.II, pp.265-7
  17. ^ Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1962). "Parishes: Thame". A History of the County of Oxford. Vol. 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds. London: Victoria County History. pp. 160–178.
  18. ^ "No. 29262". The London Gazette. 13 August 1915. p. 8015.
  19. ^ Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Tsar and His Family (1967) p. 461
  20. ^ "No. 30968". The London Gazette. 22 October 1918. p. 12490.
  21. ^ Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1957). "Parishes: Beckley". A History of the County of Oxford. Vol. 5, Bullingdon Hundred. London: Victoria County History. pp. 56–76. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  22. ^ Hallchurch, Tim. "The sale of the Abingdon Estate in 1919". Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  23. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1921.

Primary sources

  • Bertie, Francis. The Diary of Lord Bertie of Thame, 1914–1918 edited by Lady Algernon Gordon Lennox. (2 vol; London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1924).vol 1 online also online vol 2

Secondary sources

External links
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
British Ambassador to Italy

1903–1905 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
British Ambassador to France

1905–1918 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Bertie of Thame
1918–1919 		Succeeded by
Baron Bertie of Thame

1915–1919
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