Robert Clive (diplomat)

Sir Robert Henry Clive GCMG PC (23 December 1877 – 13 May 1948) was a British diplomat.

Sir Robert Clive
British Ambassador to Belgium and Minister to Luxembourg
In office
1937–1939
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain
Preceded bySir Esmond Ovey
Succeeded bySir Lancelot Oliphant (as Ambassador to Belgium)
Nigel Watson (as Chargé d'affaires to Luxembourg)
British Ambassador to Japan
In office
1934–1937
MonarchsGeorge V
Edward VIII
George VI
Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald
Stanley Baldwin
Preceded bySir Francis Oswald Lindley
Succeeded bySir Robert Craigie
Personal details
Born(1877-12-23)23 December 1877
Died13 May 1948(1948-05-13) (aged 70)
NationalityBritish
Children3
RelativesWilliam Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh (grandfather)
Edward Clive (great-grandfather)
EducationHaileybury College
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
OccupationDiplomat

Early life

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Clive was the son of Charles Meysey Bolton Clive and the great-grandson of Edward Clive. His mother was Lady Katherine Elizabeth Mary Julia, daughter of William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh. He was educated at Haileybury College and Magdalen College, Oxford.[1]

Career

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Sir Robert Clive, new British Ambassador (left), leaving with general Dubois after presenting his credentials to King Leopold at the Royal Palace in Brussels.

Clive entered the Diplomatic Service in 1902. He was General-Consul for Bavaria between 1923 and 1924 and for Morocco between 1924 and 1926 and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia between 1926 and 1931 and to the Holy See between 1933 and 1934.[1]

In 1934 he was appointed British Ambassador to Japan, a post he held until 1937.[2]

Clive served as British Ambassador to Belgium between 1937 and 1939. Clive was sworn of the Privy Council in 1934 and appointed a GCMG in 1937. He retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1939.[1]

Personal life

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In 1905, Clive married the Hon. Magdalen, daughter of Kenneth Muir Mackenzie, 1st Baron Muir-Mackenzie. They had two sons and one daughter.[1]

Clive died in May 1948, aged 70. Lady Clive died in October 1971, aged 87.[1]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e Lundy, Darryl. "Sir Robert Henry Clive, ID#239924". The Peerage.[unreliable source]
  2. ^ Hoare, James. (1999). Embassies in the East: the Story of the British Embassies in Japan, China, and Korea from 1859 to the Present,, p. 214, at Google Books; WorldCat Identities: Clive, Robert Henry Sir

References

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Further reading

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  • Great Britain. Public Record Office. Foreign Office files for Japan and the Far East. Series one, Embassy and consular archives, Japan (Public Record Office class FO 262). Part 6, Economic and military expansion renewed : withdrawal from the League of Nations, the North China incident, European Crisis and an "open door" in the Far East : (FO 262/1861-1988, 2004-2032, 2036-2039) : detailed correspondence for 1934-1940. ISBN 9781857110517; OCLC 224267234
  • Nish, Ian. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. ISBN 9781901903515; OCLC 249167170
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia
1926–1931
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick
(Chargé d'Affaires)
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Holy See
1933–1934
Succeeded by
Preceded by British Ambassador to Japan
1934–1937
Succeeded by
Preceded by British Ambassador to Belgium
1937–1939
Succeeded by