Sir Hugh Guion MacDonell
The Right Hon. Sir Hugh Guion MacDonell G.C.M.G. C.B. P.C (5 March 1831(Florence, Italy) – 25 January 1904 (London, United Kingdom)) was a British diplomat who was envoy to Brazil, Denmark and Portugal. Sir Hugh, who was born in 5 March 1831, Florence, was the 2nd son of the marriage of Hugh MacDonell of Aberchalder (Scottish Clan MacDonell of Glengarry) and Ida Louise Ulrich. Also he succeeded, his brother Sir Alexander Frederick MacDonell, in the representation of the family in the Glengarry Council in Canada. His eldest sister, married to the Alexandre Jean Aguado y Moreno, II Marqués de las Marismas del Guadalquivir, was Dame du Palais to the Empress Eugenie. Another sister, Ida MacDonell, married Don Augusto Conte y Lerdo de Tejada, Spanish Diplomant and Minister Plenipoteniary at Copenhagen.
Life and career
Sir Hugh attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst, then joined, As Second Lieutenant, the Rifle Brigade[1] on December 22, 1848 and served in British Kaffraria 1849–52. He retired from ill-health in 1853 and joined the diplomatic service. He was attaché at Washington and Constantinople. In 1865 he was Appointed to Rio de Janeiro as Second Secretary. He Did not, however, proceed thither, but took up a similar position at Copenhagen in the following years. He serverd successively at Buenos Aires, here, Sir Hugh met his distinguished wife, Anne Lumb (Daughter of Edward Lumb of Wallington Lodge, Surrey), Madrid and Berlin where, in many occasions, he acted as Chargé d'Affaires. He was transferred to Rome in 1874,[2] and was promoted to be Chargé d'Affaires at Munich in 1882.[3] In 1885 he went as Evoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoteniary to Brazil.[4] In 1888 he proceeded in a similar rank to the Court of Denmark.[5] In 1899 he was made a G.C.M.G. at the Queen´s birthday (photo attached). He Retired on a pension in 1902,[6] whe he was sworn of the Privy Counsil.
The outbreak of war between Great Britain and the two South African republics in October 1899 raised some very difficult and delicate questions between Britain and Portugal, whose port at Delagoa Bay was directly connected with the Transvaal by rail and was the principal, if not the only, channel for supplies and external communications when access through the British colonies had been closed. MacDonell's management of the discussions on these subjects was tactful and conciliatory, and contributed in no small degree to the maintenance of cordial relations.— Dictionary of National Biography
Honours
MacDonell was appointed CB in 1890,[7] knighted KCMG in 1892[8] and raised to GCMG in 1899.[9] He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1902.[10]
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "MacDonell, Hugh Guion". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. London: Smith, Elder & Co. - MACDONELL, Rt Hon. Sir Hugh Guion, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2014 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
- Sir Hugh Guion MacDonell, The Clan Donald, 1904
References
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 20929. p. 4625. 22 December 1848.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 24583. p. 3177. 21 May 1878.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 24173. p. 249. 22 January 1875.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25533. p. 5413. 24 November 1885.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25785. p. 893. 10 February 1888.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26362. p. 137. 10 January 1893.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26053. p. 2965. 20 May 1890.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26292. p. 3141. 27 May 1892.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27091. p. 3865. 20 June 1899.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27464. p. 5174. 12 August 1902.