Ronald Lindsay

Sir Ronald Charles Lindsay GCB KCMG CVO PC (3 May 1877 – 21 August 1945) was a British civil servant and diplomat. He was Ambassador to Turkey from 1925 to 1926 and to Germany from 1926 to 1928, Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 and Ambassador to the United States from 1930 to 1939.

The Right Honourable Sir Ronald Lindsay GCB KCMG CVO
Sir Ronald Lindsay in 1928.
Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs
In office 1928–1930
Preceded by	Sir William Tyrrell
Succeeded by	Sir Robert Vansittart
British Ambassador to the United States
In office 1930 – June 1939
Monarch	George V Edward VIII George VI
President	Herbert Hoover Franklin Roosevelt
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by	Sir Esme Howard
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Lothian
Personal details
Born	3 May 1877
Died	21 August 1945 (aged 68) Bournemouth, England
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Martha Cameron ​ ​ (m. 1909; died 1918)​ Elizabeth Sherman Hoyt ​ ​ (m. 1924; his death 1945)​
Parents	James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford Emily Florence Bootle-Wilbraham
Alma mater	Winchester College

Background and education

Lindsay was the fifth son of James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, by Emily Florence Bootle-Wilbraham. David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford, was his elder brother and his maternal grandfather was Colonel the Honourable Edward Bootle-Wilbraham (second son of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale).[1]

He was educated at the Winchester School in Winchester, Hampshire.[2]

Career

Lindsay was appointed Third Secretary in the Diplomatic Service in January 1901,[3] and advanced to First Secretary in 1911.[4] From 1913 to 1919 he was Under-Secretary of Finance for Egypt,[1] and was made a Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile by the Sultan of Egypt in 1915.[5] From 1919 to 1920 he was Councillor of the Embassy in Washington D.C.,[6] before being posted as Minister Plenipotentiary to France in September 1920.[7] Following this, in 1921, he was appointed the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign Office, a post he held until 1924. In 1925, he was appointed the Ambassador to Turkey[8] and was sworn of the Privy Council later that year.[9] In 1926, he moved to become Ambassador to Germany.[10] He returned to London in 1928 to become the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the civil service head of the Foreign Office.[1]

British Ambassador to the United States

After two years as Permanent Secretary, Lindsay was named as the Ambassador to the United States in November 1929,[11] and took up the position early the next year.[12][13][14] He was the first ambassador to move into the brand-new British embassy in 1930,[15] and remained in Washington for almost a decade, retiring in June 1939 to be replaced by Lord Lothian.[6]

Lindsay served an extraordinarily long term of nine years as U.S. ambassador, also as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps from July 1934 to August 1939,[16] his tenure being extended because of his effectiveness as a diplomat and the growing importance of American assistance during the years leading up to World War II.[17]

His last major official act as ambassador was to host the 1939 Royal Garden Party for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during the first-ever visit to the United States by a reigning British monarch.[18][19] Their visit was controversial because of the strong antiwar sentiment prevalent in the country, and the Royal Garden Party at the British embassy was considered the social event of the year in Washington.[20][21][22]

Honours

Lindsay was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1908,[23] a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1922,[24] a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1924,[25] and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1926.[26]

Personal life

Lindsay was married twice, both times to Americans; in 1909 to Martha Cameron, daughter of J. Donald Cameron (a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 32nd Secretary of War) his wife Elizabeth Sherman Cameron.[27]

After his first wife's death in April 1918, he married to prominent landscape gardener Elizabeth Sherman Hoyt, daughter of Colgate Hoyt, in 1924.[28] Both wives were grandnieces of William Tecumseh Sherman. There were no children from either marriage.[1][6]

Lindsay died in Bournemouth in August 1945, aged 68.[2] Lady Lindsay died in September 1954, aged 68.[29]

References

1. thepeerage.com Rt. Hon. Sir Ronald Charles Lindsay
2. Times, The New York (23 August 1945). "RONALD LINDSAY, DIPLOMAT, IS DEAD; British Ambassador to U.S. From 1930 to 1939 Stricken in Bournemouth at 68 SERVED IN STORMY PERIOD Helped Build Anglo-American Unity Against Axis—Held Posts at Berlin, Paris" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
3. "No. 27300". The London Gazette. 29 March 1901. p. 2194.
4. "No. 28563". The London Gazette. 19 December 1911. p. 9562.
5. "No. 29368". The London Gazette. 16 November 1915. p. 11320.
6. "New Ambassador", in Time, 1 May 1939
7. "No. 32081". The London Gazette. 12 October 1920. p. 9886.
8. "No. 33027". The London Gazette. 6 March 1925. p. 1602.
9. "No. 33069". The London Gazette. 24 July 1925. p. 4935.
10. "No. 33222". The London Gazette. 19 November 1926. p. 7475.
11. Woodward, Kathleen (26 January 1930). "Lindsay's Task as Envoy; Sir Ronald Lindsay" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
12. "No. 33592". The London Gazette. 28 March 1930. p. 1960.
13. "Ambassador Ronald", in Time, 25 November 1929
14. "Sir Ronald Lindsay Sails" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 March 1930. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
15. "A History of the Gardens of the Ambassador's Residence, British Embassy, Washington". Landscape of a Washington Place. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
16. "Deans of the Diplomatic Corps". Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
17. "The End of the Lindsay Era and the Beginning of the War Years in the Embassy's Gardens". Landscape of a Washington Place. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
18. "The Royal Garden Party". Landscape of a Washington Place. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
19. "DANCE GIVEN HERE FOR ROYAL ESCORT; British Navy Officers Who Came With the King and Queen Entertained AMBASSADOR IS PRESENT Sir Ronald Lindsay Feted by Godfrey Haggards at One of Dinners Before Event" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 May 1939. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
20. "Film footage: The Royal Visit, British Embassy". Landscape of a Washington Place. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
21. "The Aftermath of the Royal Garden Party". Landscape of a Washington Place. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
22. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (7 June 1939). "Officials Depart to Welcome King; to Aid in Greeting the King and Queen in Washington" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
23. "No. 28131". The London Gazette. 24 April 1908. p. 3077.
24. "No. 32716". The London Gazette. 2 June 1922. p. 4322.
25. "No. 33007". The London Gazette. 30 December 1924. p. 4.
26. "No. 33179". The London Gazette. 2 July 1926. p. 4405.
27. "DON CAMERON DIES; 20 YEARS A SENATOR; Once Republican Leader of Pennsylvania, Aged 85, Spent Last Days on His Farm. GRANT'S WAR SECRETARY In Business He Started as Clerk in His Father's Bank—His $4,000,000 Estate in Trust. Mme. Helen von Doenhoff" (PDF). The New York Times. 31 August 1918. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
28. Times, Special to The New York (4 September 1954). "Lady Lindsay" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
29. "The Education and Career of an Embassy Gardner". Landscape of a Washington Place. Retrieved 7 January 2014.

Further reading

• Spinzia, Raymond E. and Judith A. Long Island's Prominent North Shore Families: Their Estates and Their Country Homes. vol. I. College Station, TX, 2006