Sir Robert Liston, GCB FRSE PC (8 October 1742 – 15 July 1836)[1][2] was a Scottish diplomat and ambassador to several countries.
Liston was born at Overtoun House in Kirkliston, Scotland, the son of Patrick Liston of Torbanehill, West Lothian.[3]
He studied languages at the University of Edinburgh, and then tutored the sons of the Earl of Minto.[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784. His proposers were Andrew Dalzell, William Robertson, and John Drysdale. He was granted an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1785.[3]
Said to be able to speak ten languages,[1] Liston joined the diplomatic service and enjoyed a career spanning Europe appointed on 22 September 1793, eventually arriving at Constantinople on 19 May 1794. He hated it there and left on 4 November 1795.
In a promotion he was posted to the United States.[4] In 1796 he married the heiress Henrietta Marchant of Antigua. Henrietta's charm and social tact were a great asset to her husband; she also kept an interesting diary in which she records favourable impressions of George Washington and John Adams,[5] and an unfavourable impression of Talleyrand. Robert was also on excellent terms with Washington, though relations cooled somewhat after Adams' election.
On 26 March 1812 he was sworn a Privy Councillor, and on 21 October 1816, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Bath.[2] He served for a second time as ambassador to the Sublime Porte from 1812, finally retiring from the post in 1820.[6]
The family lived at Millburn Tower in Ratho. Liston's wife, Henrietta Marchant, died in 1828 and he died at home in 1836.[2] They had no children.[2]
He and his wife are buried in the graveyard of Gogar Kirk. Liston has bought the kirk and burial ground and built a family mausoleum at the site. However, when the kirk was rebuilt in 1890, as there were no descendants to save it, the mausoleum was demolished. It was replaced with a memorial obelisk.[7]
