Francis Oswald Lindley


Sir Francis Oswald Lindley was a British diplomat who was HM Consul-General in Russia in 1919, British High Commissioner in Vienna 1919-1920, Ambassador to Austria 1920-1921, Ambassador to Greece 1922-1923, Minister in Oslo 1923-1929, Ambassador to Portugal 1929-1931, and finally Ambassador to Japan 1931-1934. Lindley was described as "a rather tough old character in some respects and very outspoken in his likes and dislikes."

Early life

Lindley was born on 12 June 1872 at The Lodge, East Carleton, Norwich in the county of Norfolk. He was the fourth son of nine children born to Nathaniel Lindley, Baron Lindley, an English judge who served as Master of the Rolls and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, and Sarah Katharine Teale, daughter of Edward John Teale of Leeds.
His paternal grandparents were John Lindley, a botanist and orchidologist, and Sarah Lindley, a descendant of Sir Edward Coke.
He was educated at Winchester College and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Career

Lindley became an Attaché in 1896 and a Clerk at the Foreign Office in 1897. He was appointed Acting Third Secretary in Vienna in 1899, and served in Tehran from 1900 to 1901. Promoted Second Secretary in the Diplomatic Service, 1902, before serving the Egyptian Government from 1902 to 1904, he was next in HM Agency in Cairo for two years, then in Tokyo from 1906 to 1908, returning to London for a home posting in the Foreign Office, 1908–1909.
He was promoted First Secretary in the Diplomatic Service in 1909 and served in Sofia, 1909–1911, Christiania, 1912, and as Counsellor of the British Embassy at Petrograd, 1915. More senior postings came after the Great War. Lindley was appointed H.M. Commissioner in Russia in June 1918 and H.M. Consul-General there in 1919, where "he earned the respect of the Bolsheviks."
Lindley served as High Commissioner in Vienna from 1919 to 1920. He succeeded Sir Maurice de Bunsen as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Austria, serving between 1920 and 1921, and then succeeded Granville Leveson-Gower, 3rd Earl Granville as the Ambassador to Greece between 1921 and 1922, until a break in diplomatic relations in 1922.
Beginning in 1923, he succeeded Sir Mansfeldt Findlay as the Minister to Norway in Oslo. In 1929, he succeeded Sir Colville Barclay as the Ambassador to Portugal, serving until 1931. His final diplomatic post was as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan from 1931 to 1934 during the reign of Emperor Hirohito. While in Japan, he did not live in the Ambassador's residence, which was still being reconstructed after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, but at the embassy house in Chuzenji.
Lindley had his final audience as Ambassador with George V on 2 June 1934.

Later life

From 1935 to 1949, he was the chairman of the Council of the Japan Society of London. In retirement, Lindley lived at The Weir House, Alresford, Hampshire, and in 1934 was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the county. He belonged to the Turf Club and Brooks's. He was an official Verderer of the New Forest from 1943.
In 1947, he published an autobiography entitled A Diplomat Off Duty.

Personal life

In 1903, Lindley married Etheldreda Mary Fraser, third daughter of Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat. Her elder brother was Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and among her younger siblings was Alastair Thomas Joseph Fraser and Margaret May Fraser. They had four daughters, all of whom had prominent marriages:
Lindley's wife died in 1949 and he died on 17 August 1950.

Descendants

Through his daughter Brigid, he was the grandfather of seven, including: Sir James McEwen of Marchmont and Bardrochat, 2nd Bt., who married Clare Rosemary Sandars; Sir Robert McEwen of Marchmont and Bardrochat, 3rd Bt., who married Brigid Cecilia Laver ; Christian Mary McEwen, who married Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh; Roderick McEwen, a folk singer who married Romana von Hofmannsthal ; Alexander Dundas McEwen, a musician who married Cecilia Gräfin von Weikersheim; David Fraser McEwen ; and John Sebastian McEwen.
Through his daughter Mary he was the grandfather of Sir Henry Keswick, one of Britain's richest men who married Annabel Thérèse "Tessa" Fraser, Lady Reay ; Sir John Chippendale Keswick, who married Lady Sarah Ramsay, a daughter of Simon Ramsay, 16th Earl of Dalhousie; and Simon Keswick, who married Emma Bridget Chetwode, a daughter of Maj. George David Chetwode. Both Sir Henry and Sir Chips served as chairman of Jardine Matheson Holdings.
Through his daughter Sarah, he was the grandfather of Lady Amabel Yorke, wife of Hon. Patrick Lindsay ; Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston, father of Joseph Yorke, 10th Earl of Hardwicke; Lady Victoria Yorke, who married Nigel Waymouth ; and Lady Rose Yorke, who married three times.

Publications

Honours