Julian Pauncefote, 1st Baron Pauncefote
Julian Pauncefote, 1st Baron Pauncefote , known as Sir Julian Pauncefote between 1874 and 1899, was a United [Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British] barrister, judge and diplomat. He was Permanent [Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs] between 1882 and 1889 when he was appointed List of [Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to the United States|Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States] and would be the last to use that title, as the office was upgraded to that of Ambassador to the United States in March 1893. Elevated to the peerage as Baron Pauncefote in 1899, he died in office in 1902.
Origins
Descended in the male line from the prominent Smith family of bankers, who established Smith's Bank in Nottingham in 1658, he was born in Munich, Bavaria, the son of Robert "Pauncefote" by his wife Emma Smith, a daughter of the painter John Raphael Smith. His father was the grandson of John Smith, next younger brother of Sir George Smith, 1st Baronet of Stoke Hall, East Stoke in Nottinghamshire, and elder brother of Abel Smith II, ancestor of the Barons Carrington and the Barons Bicester.Legal career
He was educated at Paris, Geneva, and Marlborough College. Intending to join the British Indian Army, he obtained a commission in the Madras Light Cavalry, but never took up his post, instead being called to the bar in 1852, after which he practiced as a conveyancing barrister. In July 1855, Pauncefote briefly became private secretary to Sir William Molesworth, Secretary of State for the Colonies at the time. His appointment lasted only a short period ending with Molesworth's death in October that same year.In 1862, facing crippling financial losses, Pauncefote decided to go and practise as a barrister in Hong Kong. In 1865 he was appointed acting Attorney General and in 1866 became the Attorney General of Hong Kong. Ex officio he served as acting Chief Justice and acting Puisne Judge on a number of occasions.
In Hong Kong, Pauncefote was involved in a major case involving the rights of enslaved coolies to free themselves. He ended up being sued for false imprisonment in the Supreme Court of Hong Kong. In 1871, Kwok A Sing, a coolie on board a French ship, the Nouvelle Penelope, which had sailed from Macau, killed the master and took over the ship. Kwok was arrested in Hong Kong to be extradited to China. Kwok made a habeas corpus application seeking his release. Chief Justice John Jackson Smale ordered his release on the basis that Kwok was entitled to take any necessary steps to secure his freedom. Pauncefote, as Attorney General of Hong Kong, then had Kwok re-arrested to be tried for piracy. Smale again ordered Kwok's release on the basis the second arrest breached the first habeas corpus order. Kwok then sued Pauncefote for damages for false imprisonment under the Habeas Corpus Act. Kwok almost won, with the British jury finding 4–3 in Kwok's favour. Because a majority of five was needed to find in Kwok's favour the verdict was treated as a verdict for Pauncefote. In 1874, Pauncefote was appointed Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands and was knighted.
Diplomatic career
In 1876, Pauncefote returned to London as Assistant Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. He soon transferred to the Foreign Office where he took over the same post at the Foreign Office in 1876. Having been made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1879 and a Companion of the Order of the Bath the following year, Pauncefote was promoted Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1882. He was appointed first British delegate to the Suez Canal Conference in Paris in 1885, and was rewarded for his services in this respect with appointment as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George. In 1888, he became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and the following year was sent to the United States as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. His position was elevated in 1893 to Ambassador to the United States|Ambassador], and it made him the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps because Ambassador is superior to all other Envoys dispatched by other countries. He and American secretary of state Richard Olney in January 1897 negotiated an arbitration treaty, but the U.S. Senate, jealous of its prerogatives, refused to ratify it.He was Britain's representative at negotiations and signatory of the Tripartite Convention in 1899 that partitioned the Samoan islands. In 1901 he negotiated the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, nullifying the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty of 1850, and giving the United States the right to create and control a canal across Central America.
Having finally become a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1892, Pauncefote the following year became the first List of Ambassadors from [the United Kingdom to the United States|British Ambassador to the United States]. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1894 and raised to the peerage as Baron Pauncefote, "of Preston, Dymock in the County of Gloucester", in 1899. Preston Hall, near Dymock, in Gloucestershire, was a former seat of the Pauncefote family.
Marriage and issue
In 1859 he married Selina Cubitt, a daughter of William Cubitt, by whom he had one son, who died as an infant, and four daughters, including:- Lilian Pauncefote, youngest daughter, who on 24 February 1900 married her distant kinsman Sir Robert Bromley, 6th Baronet of Stoke Hall, East Stoke in Nottinghamshire, honorary attaché to the British embassy in Washington. The wedding at St John's Episcopal Church in Washington DC was officiated by the Bishop of Washington, in the presence of cabinet members, diplomats and other distinguished guests. Lavish gifts were provided by the Rothschilds, the Vanderbilts, Andrew Carnegie and Mr Choate.