Henry Drummond Wolff
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Sir Henry Drummond-Wolff (1830 – 11 October 1908), son of Joseph Wolff, was a well-known English - Jewish [1] diplomat and Conservative Party politician, who started as a clerk in the Foreign Office and was created KCMG in 1862 for various services abroad.
In 1874-1880 he sat in parliament for Christchurch, and in 1880-1885 for Portsmouth. Whilst MP for Christchurch he lived in Boscombe, where he developed the Boscombe Spa estate, and he played an active role in the public life of Bournemouth. In 1870 presented the Bournemouth Rowing Club with a four oared racing galley. He was one of the group known as the Fourth Party. In 1885 he went on a special mission to Constantinople and Egypt in connection with the Eastern Question, and as a result various awkward difficulties, hinging on the Sultan's suzerainty, were addressed. Wolff negotiated a settlement whereby Britain and Turkey would each appoint a commissioner to Egypt to help the khedive's government conduct reforms of the army and the government. Wolff then assumed the role of British high commissioner in Egypt from 1885 to 1887.
In 1888 he was sent as minister to Teheran, and from 1892 to 1900 was ambassador at Madrid.
Sir Henry was a notable raconteur, and he did good service to the Conservative Party by helping to found the Primrose League. He was created GCMG in 1878 and GCB in 1889. His grandson, Henry Maxence Cavendish Drummond Wolff was also briefly a Conservative Member of Parliament.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
