List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain explained
The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Spain is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in the Kingdom of Spain, and in charge of the UK's diplomatic mission in Spain. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain.
The British ambassador to Spain is also non-resident ambassador to the Principality of Andorra.
In 1822, Foreign Secretary George Canning downgraded the Embassy to a Mission, and the Head of Mission from an Ambassador to an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, to reflect Spain's decreased importance on the world stage. The Mission in Madrid was upgraded to a full Embassy once more on 9 December 1887.[1]
List of heads of mission
The following is a partial list of British ambassadors to Spain.
Titles of the heads of mission:
- From 1509 to 1683: Ambassador
- From 1683 to 1710: Envoy Extraordinary
- From 1711 to 1821: Ambassador
- From 1822 to 1887: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Since 1887: Ambassador
| Appointed/accreditation | Incumbent | Monarch | Envoy to | Left office |
|---|
| 1505 | John Stile[2] | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | 16 June 1518 |
| 3 June 1512 | William Knight[3] | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | 1 September 1513 |
| John Young | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Richard Wingfield | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Edward Poynings | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Cuthbert Tunstall | | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Thomas More | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| John Clifford | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Cuthbert Tunstall | Henry VIII of England | Ferdinand II of Aragon | |
| Edward Poynings | Henry VIII of England | Charles II of Burgundy | --> |
| 15 July 1517 | Sir Thomas Spinelly[4] | Henry VIII of England | Charles I of Spain | 1522 |
| 28 February 1518 | John Kite[5]
John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners[6] | Henry VIII of England | Charles I of Spain | 1 March 1519 |
| 1533 | Richard Pate | Henry VIII of England | Charles I of Spain | 1537 |
| 1537 | Sir Thomas Wyatt[7] | Henry VIII of England | Charles I of Spain | 1539 |
| 12 March 1554 | John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford
Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex | Mary I of England | Philip II of Spain | 20 July 1554 |
| 12 January 1560 | Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | 24 June 1560 |
| 24 June 1560 | Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu
Sir Thomas Chamberlain[8] | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | 24 June 1562 |
| 30 September 1561 | Thomas Chaloner | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | 15 May 1565 |
| 5 March 1565 | William Phayre | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | 4 April 1566 |
| 12 January 1566 | John Man[9] | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | 5 October 1568 |
| 18 November 1576 | Sir John Smith[10] [11] | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | 28 July 1577 |
| December 1577 | Thomas Wilkes[12] | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | February 1578 |
| May 1579 | Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | |
| January 1583 | William Wade | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | August 1584 |
| 1584 | Thomas Wilson | Elizabeth I of England | Philip II of Spain | |
| 2 March 1605 | Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | 4 July 1577 |
| 1605 | Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | |
| 1605 | Charles Cornwallis[13] | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | 1609 |
| 1608 | John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | |
| 1609 | Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington[14] | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | 1611 |
| 1609 | Peter Wyche | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | 1611 |
| 1616 | William Cecil, 17th Baron de Ros | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | |
| 1617 | John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol[15] | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | 1618 |
| 1617 | John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | |
| 1618 | Walter Aston, 1st Lord Aston of Forfar | James VI and I | Philip III of Spain | |
| 1622 | Mr. Hole | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | |
| 1622 | Simon Digby (fl. 1620–1640s) | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | 1640 |
| 1622 | John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | |
| 1623 | Endymion Porter | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | |
| 1624 | Stephen Gardiner | James VI and I | Philip IV of Spain | |
| 1 March 1625 | Peter Wyche | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 30 April 1626 |
| 11 August 1628 | Endymion Porter | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 5 January 1629 |
| 1 July 1629 | Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 20 April 1631 |
| 18 December 1630 | Arthur Hopton | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 23 April 1636 |
| 13 July 1634 | John Taylor | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 24 May 1635 |
| 26 December 1634 | Walter Aston, 1st Lord Aston of Forfar | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 31 July 1638 |
| April 1638 | Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | 10 June 1638 |
| 21 March 1638 | Arthur Hopton | Charles I of England | Philip IV of Spain | December 1645 |
| 25 January 1650 | Anthony Ascham | English Council of State | Philip IV of Spain | 27 May 1650 |
| 27 May 1650 | George Fisher | English Council of State | Philip IV of Spain | 26 September 1651 |
| 1654 | Anglo-Spanish War (1654-1660) | English Council of State | Philip IV of Spain | 1660 |
| 20 February 1666 | Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 11 October 1668 |
| 26 February 1666 | Robert Southwell | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 22 June 1666 |
| 10 July 1668 | Sir John Werden, 1st Baronet | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 10 June 1668 |
| 10 July 1668 | William Godolphin | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 10 June 1668 |
| 21 November 1671 | Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 20 May 1672 |
| 29 June 1677 | Ignatius White | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | October 1677 |
| 12 June 1679 | Sir Henry Goodricke, 2nd Baronet[16] | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 27 March 1683 |
| 10 December 1682 | Peter Lefett | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | 16 November 1685 |
| 13 May 1685 | Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath | Charles II of England | Charles II of Spain | December 1688 |
| 13 May 1685 | John Stafford | James II of England | Charles II of Spain | December 1688 |
| May 1689 | Viscount Dursley | Mary II of England | Charles II of Spain | August 1689 |
| 1689 | Alexander Stanhope[17] | Mary II of England | Charles II of Spain | 1699 |
| 1699 | Francis Schonenberg[18] | William III of England | Charles II of Spain | 1702 |
| 1702 | War of the Spanish Succession | William III of England | Philip V of Spain | 1702 |
| 1705 | Mitford Crowe | Anne, Queen of Great Britain | Philip V of Spain | 1706 |
| 1705 | Paul Methuen | Anne, Queen of Great Britain | Philip V of Spain | 1706 |
| 1706 | Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (joint envoys)[19] | Anne, Queen of Great Britain | Charles III of Hungary | |
Notes and References
- Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, British Historical Facts 1830-1900, Macmillan 1975, page 168
- Hillgarth, J.N. The Mirror of Spain, 1500-1700: The Formation of a Myth, University of Michigan Press, 2000, page 11
- Knight, William (1476-1547).
- [Betty Behrens|Behrens, Betty]
- Kite, John.
- Bourchier, John (1467-1533).
- Wyatt, Thomas (1503?-1542).
- http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/chamberlain-sir-thomas-1504-80 CHAMBERLAIN, Sir Thomas (c.1504-80)
- Man, John.
- Smith, John (1534?-1607).
- https://books.google.com/books?id=gcro2IEc0U4C&pg=PA64 Froude, James A., History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, John Parker & Son, London, 1870, reprinted Cambridge University Press, 2011, volume XI, pp64-68
- Wilkes, Thomas.
- Chris R. Kyle, ‘Cornwallis, Sir Charles (c.1555–1629)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (Oxford University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6337, accessed 1 Feb 2011.
- Fiona Pogson, ‘Cottington, Francis, first Baron Cottington (1579?–1652)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (Oxford University Press, 2004),http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6404, accessed 1 Feb 2011.
- , Sir John 1617 Digby sailed for Spain with his kinsman, Sir John, who was English ambassador at Madrid. They returned together 27 April 1618. DIGBY (George lord) son of John, earl of Bristol, was born during his father's embassy to Madrid in 1612.David L. Smith, ‘Digby, John, first earl of Bristol (1580–1653)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", (Oxford University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7628, accessed 1 Feb 2011.
- J. D. Davies, ‘Goodricke, Sir Henry, second baronet (1642–1705)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10981, accessed 10 April 2009
- Horn, D.B., British Diplomatic Representatives 1689-1789 (Camden 3rd Ser. 46, 1932)
- McLachlan, Jean O., Trade and Peace with Old Spain, 1667-1750, Cambridge University Press, 1940, page 38
- Davenport, Frances G. & Paullin, Charles O.,European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies, Lawbook Exchange, 2012, page 123
