Harford Jones, later Sir Harford Jones Brydges, 1st Baronet, PC

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

, DL

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 (12 January 1764 – 17 March 1847), was a British diplomat

Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...

 and author.

Life

Born on 12 January 1764, Sir Harford Jones-Brydges was the son of Harford Jones of Presteign, Radnorshire by Winifred, daughter of Richard Hooper of the Whittern, Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

. Early in life he entered the service of the East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, and, acquiring great proficiency in the oriental languages, he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of Persia, where he remained four years from 1807 to 1811. On 9 October 1807 he was created a baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

. On his return from Persia he was disappointed with the prospects of promotion in the East India Company, and resigned.

In a royal sign manual dated 4 May 1826, in commemoration of his descent through his maternal grandmother from the family of Brydges of Old Colwall, Herefordshire, he assumed the additional name of Brydges.

He died at his seat at Boultibrook, Presteigne on 17 March 1847. Through his marriage with Sarah, eldest daughter of the knight Sir Henry Gott

Henry Gott

Sir Henry Thomas Gott, Kt. , born Henry Thomas Greening, was gardener to King George II at Windsor.Gott was the son of Thomas Greening , gardener to King George II, whose father Thomas had held the same position.In 1769 Henry Greening changed his surname to Gott, as directed by the terms of the...

 of Newland Park, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

 he had one son and two daughters.

Persia

Throughout life he a deep interest in the welfare both of the Persians and the natives of India. In 1833 he published The Dynasty of the Kajars, translated from the original Persian manuscript, in the following year An Account of His Majesty's Mission to the Court of Persia in the years 1807–11, to which is added a brief history of the Wahanby, and in 1838 his Letter on the Present State of British Interests and Affairs in Persia, addressed to the Marquis of Wellesley. In 1843 he pleaded the cause of the ameers

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 of Sind in a letter to the court of directors of the East India Company, denouncing the latter's policy of annexation and conquest.

Politics

He served as High Sheriff of Radnorshire

High Sheriff of Radnorshire

- History :The office of High Sheriff is over 1000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office under the...

 for 1816.

Politically he was a Whig, and took an active interest in the election contests of Radnorshire, where he founded a political association known as the Grey Coat Club. On 15 June 1831 he received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. In 1832 he was sworn a privy councillor, and in 1841 was appointed deputy-lieutenant of the county of Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

.