John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio

Sir John Francis Charles de Salis, 7th Count de Salis KCMG CVO (19 July 1864 – 14 January 1939) was a British diplomat and landowner.[1]

Count de Salis in Court Uniform, circa 1911-1923
The Count in 1869

Family background

He was the elder son of Count John Francis William de Salis (1825–1871), a diplomat and renowned numismatist of Hillingdon, and Amelia Frances Harriet (1837–8 January 1885), eldest daughter of Christopher Tower, JP DL MP, (1800–84), of Huntsmoor Park, Iver, Buckinghamshire, and of Weald Hall, Essex, by his wife, Lady Sophia Frances Cust (1811–82), eldest daughter of the 1st Earl Brownlow (1779–1853).[2]

Armorial Achievement from Fox-Davies, 1929

Diplomatic career

After being educated at Eton (1877–1882, Edward Compton Austen Leigh's house) he was nominated an attaché in the diplomatic service on 20 November 1886. He passed a competitive examination on 14 January 1887. On 12 June 1888 he was appointed to Brussels as an attaché and promoted to Third Secretary on 14 January 1889. From 24 April 1892 he served in Madrid, and was promoted to Second Secretary on 22 August 1893. From August 1894 he served in Cairo under Lord Cromer in charge of the agency there when the Dervishes were active (he was granted an allowance for knowledge of Arabic on 2 April 1895). In autumn 1897 he was in Berlin, in 1899 in Brussels and from 1901 in Athens, as head of chancery (dealing with the Macedonian problem). He was promoted to First Secretary on 1 April 1904. He was employed between 1901–06 at the Foreign Office in London, and appointed a British Delegate for negotiation of a new Commercial Convention with Romania on 7 September 1905. He served as Berlin chargé d'affaires and counsellor of embassy from 1 July 1906 to 1911, and was a British delegate at the International Copyright Conference at Berlin, October–November 1908. From November 1911 to 1916 he served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of Montenegro at Cettinjé, and was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on a special mission to the Holy See in 1916–1923, (Pope Benedict XV 1916-1922, and same to Pope Pius XI 1922-1923). He was a member of the 1931 Malta Royal Commission (report issued in a blue book, 11 February 1932).[2]

De Salis Report
Montenegro 1914

In 1919 the British Government sent de Salis to investigate the Serbian occupation of Montenegro, but his resulting report was suppressed. Alexander Devine in The Martyred Nation, 1924 wrote: The fact is the Report contains such a damning indictment of Serbian rule that its publication would immediately provoke interference; and that interference did not suit our policy towards the French Government.

In the House of Commons, Ronald McNeill repeatedly asked about production of the Report and De Salis's possible arrest.[3] But as Devine put it: When the day came that Mr. McNeill found himself Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the late Conservative Ministry, the Report was on his desk in the Foreign Office and Mr. McNeill could no more disclose its contents than his predecessors could. Meanwhile, Lord Sydenham in the House of Lords, Hansard, 29 November 1920 said:[4]

The Papers for which I ask are two. The first is the Report of Count de Salis, which the noble Earl (Curzon) the Leader of the House said he had no objection to giving, but he added— If the report is made public, the names of witnesses would be contained in it who gave their evidence to Count de Salis only on the pledge of strictest secrecy, and who might, I think, suffer seriously from divulgation. Could there be a clearer admission of what is going on in Montenegro?

In a letter, dated New York, 1 May 1922, published in The New York Times, 7 May 1922, Ronald Tree described the Count as: '..perhaps the greatest English authority on the Balkans'.

In April 1920, months after the possible event, an alleged arrest and imprisonment by the Serbians, the New York Times reported:

Serbs arrest de Salis, Montenegro minister accuses Britain and Wilson to Nicholas.
Paris, 2 April.
"Count de Salis, formerly British Minister to Montenegro and later a special envoy to the Vatican for the British Government, has been arrested and imprisoned by the Serbians while executing a mission of investigation for his Government. This information is contained in a declaration made to King Nicholas of Montenegro, who is now in Paris, by the Montenegran Foreign Minister. Count de Salis's life has been in danger for a long time, according to this declaration, which prefaces the details of the incident by recalling Earl Curzon's declaration in the British House of Lords that the Montenegrans were anxious for a union with Serbia. Instead of demanding reparations, the declaration adds, the British Foreign Office suppressed the report of Count de Salis and continued to support Serbian claims. The declaration alleges the report was to the effect that the Serbian army 'which overran Montenegro after the armistice terrorized the population'. The reign of terror still continues, says the declaration, which, after asserting that whatever Serbian troops appear the occupation is followed by pillage, incendiarism and massacres, gives details. In conclusion the complaint is made in the declaration that 'Europe knows what is happening to Montenegro but remains indifferent,' and that President Wilson, 'the great champion of small nations, persistently turns a deaf ear.'"

The sensitivity of the issue is shown by the fact that only one of his four obituaries in The Times (1939) (19 January 1939, page 17, column D) mentions his Montenegran Report, although not the arrest.

Estate
Bourchier Tower, Lough Gur in 2005. Sometime in tenancy of the Baylee family. Described by Mary Carbery in The Farm by Lough Gur.[5] Part of the Count's Irish estate, most of which was sold as part of the Irish Land Acts.
Photo taken during the Count's life of Grange Hill, Monasteranenagh, by Lough Gur, circa 1870. Formerly residence of, rented by, and possibly built by the Croker family. (Used by the Counts c1858-1906 and beyond).[6]

In 1883 the Count was listed in Bateman's Great Landowners, based on the Return of Owners of Land, 1873, Irish section, Dublin, 1876, as being of Tandragee and London and owning 3,663 acres (14.82 km2) worth £5,392 per annum in County Armagh and 4,026 acres (16.29 km2) worth £3,349 per annum in County Limerick. These Irish estates derived from Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath (1587–1654), an ancestral uncle by marriage. The 1883 and 1887 Burke's Peerage and Walford's list him as living at Grange Hill, Limerick; 7, Athlestone Terrace; and Hillingdon Place, Middlesex. He was accordingly a JP for Limerick and Armagh; and Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for Limerick. Debrett's Peerage in 1925 had his seats as: Loughgur, co. Limerick; and Bondo, Bregalia, Grisons. His livery was: green coat with a yellow waistcoat.

In addition to his CVO, CMG (both 25 June 1909), and KCMG (3 June 1913), he held the 2nd Class Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, and the King George V Coronation Medal.

Wife and her family

He married in Brussels, 6 December 1890, Hélène Marie de Riquet, Comtesse de Caraman-Chimay (born Château de Menars, Loire, 18 August 1864 – died Brussels, 31 May 1902), daughter of Marie Eugène Auguste de Riquet, Prince de Caraman-Chimay, of the chateau de Beaumont (Hainault), (born Ménars, 8 January 1847, died chateau de Chimay, Hainault, Wallonia, 20 June 1881) by Louise de Graffenried-Villars (born Ile de France, 17 June 1842, died Brussels, 18 October 1901). Prince Eugene was son of Joseph de Riquet de Caraman (1808-1886), 17th Prince de Chimay and 1st Prince de Caraman, of Chimay, Ménars, etc., (born Paris, 20 August 1808, died London, 12 March 1886) by Émilie Louise Marie Françoise Joséphine Pellapra, (born Lyon, 11 November 1806, died Ménars, 22 May 1871).

Prince Eugene was grandson of François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet, Count de Caraman, 16th Prince de Chimay, (born Paris, 21 September 1771, died Toulouse, 2 March 1843), by Juana Maria Ignazia Teresa Cabarrús, Madame Tallien, (born Carabanchel Alto, Spain, 31 July 1773, died Chimay, 15 January 1835), whom he married in Paris, 22 August 1805.

  • His sister-in-law Alice (1868–1953) married (December 1902) Prince Giovanni Borghese (1855–1918), (brother of Prince de Vivaro, Duke de Ceri, and Duke de Poggio-Naturo.
  • His sister-in-law Louise Emilie (1871 – Budapest, 18 July 1944) married (1896) Dénes Othon Alexander Franz Graf Széchényi v. Sárvár-Felsövidék (1866–1934).
  • His sister-in-law Ernestine Magdeleine (1879–1914) married, 1900, Joseph Ladislas Emanuel Maria Graf Hunyady (1873–1942).
  • His brother-in-law Charles Philippe (Brussels, 1881 – Paris, 1931) married, 1913, Marie Berthe Jeanne de Boisgelin (Paris, 1889 – Lausanne, 18 September 1967). Their daughter, Countess Marguerite de Caraman-Chimay (Paris, 29 December 1913 – Nice, 1 September 1990), married (Château de Sully, 25 August 1937) Maurice Jean Marie, 3rd Duc de Magenta (Lunéville, 13 November 1903 – Évreux, 27 October 1954).

Clubs

He was a member of the Marlborough (House); Bath; White's; and Travellers'. In 1933 his address was listed as The Bath Club, 34 Dover Street, London, W.I.[2]

Brother

Rudie de Salis, 1869
Henry Rodolph's steam canal inspection launch Dragonfly, as shown in The Engineer of 8 November 1895
Invitation to marriage of Rodolph & May, at Thames Ditton, May 1893

Count (Henry) Rodolph (Rudie) de Salis (30 June 1866 – 25 February 1936). J.P. (High Sheriff, 1915) for Buckinghamshire from 1898. Author Bradshaw's Canals & Navigable Rivers of England & Wales, 1904, 1918 and 1928. De Salis: 'explored the waterways yard by yard, mile by mile travelling in his steam launch, Dragon Fly I, II and III for 11 years and covering 14,000 miles'. He was a main witness to the Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways (1906). (see Butterley Tunnel). Educated at Eton (1880–1884, Edward Compton Austen Leigh's house),[2] (Shooting VIII, 1882–83, Peek Cup, 1883). Associate Member Institution Civil Engineers (A.M.Inst.C.E. 1893). Associate of the Institute of Naval Architects. Member of the Society of Art. JP for Buckinghamshire (1898); High Sheriff, Bucks (1915). Member Buckinghamshire County Council (1898–1916); Thames Conservancy Board (1911–1916). He was director of: Fellows Morton & Clayton Ltd (canal carriers of Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham, etc.) (and chairman); Windsor Electrical Installation Co. Ltd (1901–1920); Slough and Datchet Electrical Supply Co. Ltd (1908–1920).

He married, on 9 May 1893, Alice Mary (May) (d. 10 June 1939), elder daughter of Captain Robert Lambert (1818–1891) (of the Monmouthshire, 43rd, Light Infantry), of Weston, Thames Ditton. They lived at Ivy Lodge, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire; Acton Lodge, Milverton Hill, or Church Hill, Leamington Spa, Warweickshire; and retired to Chy-Morvah, St. Ives, Cornwall. He was found shot dead in his bedroom at Acton Lodge on 25 February 1936.

From The Times, 26 February 1936, (page 14, column B):

Mr. Henry Rodolph de Salis, brother of Count Sir John de Salis, was found shot dead yesterday in his bedroom at his home, Acton Lodge, Church Hill, Leamington. A revolver lay near the body. Mr. de Salis, who was 69 years of age, was prominent in business circles in Birmingham. A recognised authority on canal traffic problems, he was the chairman of Messrs. Fellows, Morton and Clayton canal carriers.
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References
Citations
  1. Debrett's Peerage 1888, Foreign Titles of Nobility section, p. 822
  2. "Prefatory Essay by the Hon. and Rev. Edward Lyttelton, D.D., Headmaster of Eton 1905-16". The Old Public School-Boys' Who's Who Series, Eton. London: St. James's Press. 1933. p. 227.
  3. Mr. Ronald McNeill, Member for Canterbury (17 November 1919). "Montenegro". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 605–606.
  4. Lord Sydenham (29 November 1920). "Montenegro". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. col. 703–711.
  5. "Estate Record: Baylee/Bayley (Mount Baylee)". NUI Galway Landed Estates Database. 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. "Estate Record: De Salis". NUI Galway Landed Estates Database. 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
Bibliography
Press photo of reception of Count de Salis, British Representative at the Vatican, c.1916-1922. The Count is in the centre, and his eldest son, John, is fourth from the right.
  • Quadrennial di Fano Saliceorum, volume one, by R. de Salis, London, 2003.
  • De Salis Family : English Branch, by Rachel Fane De Salis, Henley-on-Thames, 1934.
  • Burke's Irish Family Records, ed. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Peerage Ltd, London, 1976.
  • A genealogical and heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry, by Sir (John) Bernard Burke, CB, LLD, vol. 2, London, 1895/1899 (pages 574-77).
  • Burke's Peerage, Foreign Noblemen / Foreign Titles sections: 1851, 1936, 1956, etc.
  • Debrett's Peerage, Foreign Titles section, 1920, 1925, etc.
  • Der Grafliche Hauser, Band XI [volume 11], Genealogisches Handbuch Des Adels, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg an der Lahn, 1983 (pps 331-356).
  • Armorial Families, a directory of Coat-Armour, compiled by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, volume 1, 1929.
  • The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book for 1928, ed. Godfrey E. P. Hertslet, Harrison & sons, London, 1928. (Page 390).
  • The Times, page 14 26 February 1936. "Business Man Found Shot Dead".
  • The Times, Obituaries, 16, 17, 18 & 19 January 1937.
  • The Guardian, obituary, 16 January 1937.
  • New York Times, 4 April 1920 (De Salis arrested by Serbs) and Sunday May 7, 1922 (a letter from Ronald Tree).
  • The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal, being a complete table of all the descendants now living of Edward III, King of England, by the Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineval, Anne of Exeter volume, TC & EC Jack, London, 1907 (page 361).
  • Lord Sydenham in the House of Lords, Hansard, 29 November 1920.
  • J. F. C. De Salis, Report on German Finances, Cd. 5465-19, 1911 (reported in The Times, 16 March 1911).
  • The Martyred Nation, A plea for Montenegro, by Alex. Devine, London, 1924.
  • Annihilation of a Nation, Walter Littlefield in the New York Times, 16 April 1922.
  • Tom McNamara in The Lough Gur & District Historical Society Journal, No. 10, 1998, page 19, quoting from The Limerick Leader, 7 June 1893.
Regnal titles
Preceded by
John Francis William, 6th Count de Salis		 Count de Salis-Soglio
1871–1939		 Succeeded by
John Eugen, 8th Count de Salis
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