Robert Adair (politician)

For other people named Robert Adair, see Robert Adair (disambiguation).

Sir Robert Adair GCB (24 May 1763 – 3 October 1855) was a distinguished British diplomat, and frequently employed on the most important diplomatic missions.

The Right Honourable Sir Robert Adair GCB
British Ambassador to Belgium
In office 1831–1835
Monarch	William IV
Preceded by	John Ponsonby
Succeeded by	Stratford Canning
British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
In office 1808–1809
Preceded by	Sir Arthur Paget
Succeeded by	Henry Bulwer
British Ambassador to Austria
In office 1806–1807
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	William Cavendish-Bentinck
Preceded by	Sir Arthur Paget
Succeeded by	George Herbert
Member of Parliament for Camelford
In office 1802–1812
Preceded by	William Joseph Denison
Succeeded by	John Angerstein
Personal details
Born	(1763-05-24)24 May 1763
Died	3 October 1855(1855-10-03) (aged 92)
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Angélique Gabrielle ​ (m. 1805)​
Alma mater	Westminster School University of Göttingen

He was the son of Robert Adair, sergeant-surgeon to George III, and Lady Caroline Keppel, daughter of Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle. He was educated at Westminster School and the University of Göttingen, and then studied law at Lincoln's Inn, but hardly practised as a barrister.

He hoped to gain office as Under-secretary of State to Charles James Fox, but he was in opposition. Following the French Revolution, he travelled in Europe, visiting Berlin, Vienna, and St Petersburg to study the effects of the revolution and equip himself for a diplomatic career.

He became Whig Member of Parliament (MP) for Appleby (1799–1802) and Camelford (1802–12).

In 1805, he made a disastrous marriage to Angélique Gabrielle, daughter of the marquis de l'Escuyer d'Hazincourt (known as ‘Talleyrand's spy’), but this kept him out of office when Fox returned to government. Instead Fox sent him to Vienna. In June 1808, George Canning transferred him to Constantinople. He was created a KCB in that year for his services there.

As British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, he reported on the case of the Elgin marbles. In 1811, he wrote that the Ottomans had 'absolutely denied' that Elgin had any property in the sculptures.^[1]

He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1828. He was employed in Belgium from 1831 to 1835, where he succeeded in preventing a war between Belgium and The Netherlands. This exploit won for him the rank of GCB and a pension of £2000 per year from 1831, and also the grand'cross of the Belgian order of Leopold in 1835. He then visited Prussia. In the 1840s, he published memoirs of his diplomatic activities in the 1800s.

References

• W. P. Courtney, 'Adair, Sir Robert (1763–1855)', rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2008) ^[2]

1. Titi, Catharine (2023). The Parthenon Marbles and International Law. Springer. pp. 79–81. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6. ISBN 978-3-031-26356-9.
2. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , accessed 23 September 2008

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Robert Adair
• Portraits of Robert Adair at the National Portrait Gallery, London  

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by John Tufton John Courtenay	Member of Parliament for Appleby 1799–1800 With: John Courtenay	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Appleby 1801–1802 With: John Courtenay	Succeeded by Sir Philip Francis John Courtenay
Preceded by William Joseph Denison John Angerstein	Member of Parliament for Camelford 1802–1812 With: John Fonblanque 1802–1806 Viscount Maitland 1806–1807 Lord Henry Petty 1807–1810 Henry Brougham 1810–1812	Succeeded by William Leader Samuel Scott
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir Arthur Paget	British Minister to Austria 1806–1807	Succeeded by The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery
Preceded by Sir Arthur Paget	British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire 1808–1809	Succeeded by Stratford Canning Chargé d'Affaires
Preceded by The Lord Ponsonby	British Ambassador to Belgium 1831–1835	Succeeded by Henry Lytton Bulwer Chargé d'Affaires