John Jordan (diplomat)

Sir John Newell Jordan GCMG GCIE KCB PC (5 September 1852 – 14 September 1925) was a British diplomat.

Jordan was born in Balloo, County Down, Ireland, the son of a wealthy Presbyterian farmer. He apparently never lost his Irish accent. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, Queen's College, Belfast and Queen's College, Cork. In 1876 he joined the Chinese Consular Service as a student interpreter. He held various posts in South China before being appointed Chinese Secretary at the British Legation in Peking in 1891. In 1896 he was appointed Consul-General at Seoul, Korea, becoming Chargé d'affaires in 1898 and Minister-Resident in 1901. He remained there until November 1905, being appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1904.

In 1906 he was appointed HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China as the successor to Sir Ernest Satow and remained in the post until his retirement in 1920. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1909, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) in 1911, and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 1920 Birthday Honours shortly after his retirement. He was also appointed to the Privy Council in 1915, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable".

Jordan, despite his retirement, was a delegate to the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922.

References

• Biography, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography