Sir Beilby Francis Alston (8 October 1868 – 28 June 1929) was a British diplomat who was envoy to various countries.

Career

Beilby Francis Alston was the son of a civil servant at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

(not a diplomat), Sir Francis Alston KCMG. Beilby Alston started as a clerk in the Librarian's Department of the Foreign Office in 1890 and later that year in the Political Division. In 1895 he was posted to Copenhagen as acting 3rd Secretary in the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

. He was Secretary to the British Plenipotentiaries at a conference in Paris in 1896 to revise the Berne Convention, then acting 2nd Secretary and ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

'' at Buenos Aires 1896–97. He was Secretary to British representatives at conferences at Brussels in 1898, 1901, and 1902, leading to the Brussels Sugar Convention of 5 March 1902. Returning to London, Alston was attached to Prince Tsai Suun of China on his mission to England in 1909, and to Prince Tsai-Chen who represented the

Emperor of China Throughout Chinese history, "Emperor" () was the superlative title held by the monarchs of imperial China's various dynasties. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven", an autocrat with the divine mandat ...

at the coronation of King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

in June 1911. In December 1911 he was with

Prince Alexander of Teck Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; born Prince Alexander of Teck; 14 April 1874 – 16 January 1957), was a member of the extended British royal family, as a great-grandson of King Georg ...

who represented the King at the coronation of

King Rama VI Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and promote Siamese national ...

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(Thailand), moving on to

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

where he was Counsellor of the

Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

1911–17, and ''chargé d'affaires'' in 1913 and 1916–17 when the Minister, Sir John Jordan, was absent. Alston was Deputy High Commissioner in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

1918–19 (during the Siberian Intervention), then Minister Plenipotentiary in Tokyo 1919–20 (under the Ambassador, Sir Charles Eliot), then Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

1920–22, then Minister to Argentina and to

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

1923–25, then Ambassador to Brazil from 1925 until his death. In 1932 Alston's daughter Lucy Evelyn Alston married

Kenneth Benda Charles Kenneth Anton Benda (3 June 1902 – 26 July 1978) was an English actor often on television. He appeared in British television series ''No Hiding Place'', ''The Saint (TV series), The Saint'', ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'', ' ...

, a company director who later became an actor.

Honours

Beilby Alston was appointed CB in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...

of 1913 and knighted KCMG in the Birthday Honours of 1920 and GBE in the Birthday Honours of 1929. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1925. The Emperor of China gave him the Grand Cross of the

Order of the Double Dragon The Imperial Order of the Double Dragon () was an Order (decoration), order awarded in the late Qing dynasty. The Order was founded by the Guangxu Emperor on 7 February 1882 as an award for outstanding services to the throne and the Qing court. ...

in 1909, and the King of Siam made him a Commander of the

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...

in 1911.

References

ALSTON, Rt. Hon. Sir Beilby Francis
''Who Was Who'', 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
Sir Beilby Alston – British Ambassador In Brazil
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 29 June 1929, page 14

(family site)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Beilby Francis 1868 births 1929 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Paraguay Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Brazil Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom