The United Kingdom had a diplomatic representative to the three sovereign Hanseatic cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck until German unification in 1871. The envoy was usually only a resident, but sometimes he was also minister plenipotentiary to Lower Saxony. He was usually resident at Hamburg, which had long been an important port for British trade, and the staple port of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London.
Heads of Mission
Residents
1689–1700: Sir Paul RycautD. B. Horn, British Diplomatic Representatives 1689–1789 (Camden 3rd Ser. 46, 1932) 1702–1713: John Wich Envoy Extraordinary from 1709 1707–1709: Dr John Robinson (Envoy Extraordinary to Sweden) was resident in Hamburg 1713–1741: Cyril Wich or Wyche Chargé d'Affaires 1713–1714; Resident 1714–1719; Minister 1719–1725; Envoy Extraordinary 1712–1741; created a Baronet in 1729 1741–1756: James Cope 1757–1763: Philip StanhopeJ. Haydn, Book of Dignities (1851), 79. 1762–1763: Robert Colbrooke
Residents to the Hanse Towns and minister plenipotentiary to Lower Saxony 1763–1772: Ralph Woodford 1772–1790: Emmanuel Matthias 1790–1798: Charles Henry Fraser 1798–1803: Sir James Crauford, Bt, also to Denmark and Meckenburg 1803–1805: Sir George Rumbold, Bt 1805–1807: Edward Thornton 1807–1813: No diplomatic relations during the Continental SystemS. T. Bindoff, E. F. Malcolm Smith and C. K. Webster, British Diplomatic Representatives 1789–1852 (Camden 3rd Series, 50, 1934). 1813: Alexander Cockburn Special Mission 1815–1820: Alexander Cockburn Envoy Extraordinary 1820–1823: Joseph Charles Mellish Chargé d'Affaires 1823–1836: No diplomatic representation 1836–1841: Henry Canning Chargé d'Affaires 1841–60: Colonel George Lloyd Hodges Chargé d'Affaires 1860–70: John Ward Chargé d'Affaires and Consul-General
See also History of Hamburg List of diplomatic missions in Hamburg
References