Claude MacDonald

{{Short description|British Army officer and diplomat (1852–1915)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = Sir Claude MacDonald

| office = British Ambassador to Japan
{{no bold|(British Minister to Japan, 1900–1905)}}

| term_start = 1900

| term_end = 1912

| predecessor = Sir Ernest Mason Satow

| successor = Conyngham Greene

| monarch = Victoria
Edward VII
George V

| primeminister = The Marquess of Salisbury
Arthur Balfour
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
H. H. Asquith

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCMG|GCVO|KCB}}

| image = SirClaudeMacdonald.jpg

| image_size = 220px

| caption = Sir Claude MacDonald, {{circa}} 1900

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1852|06|12|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Morar, Gwalior, India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|09|10|1852|06|12|df=yes}}

| death_place = London, England

| resting_place = Brookwood Cemetery

| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|51.297562|-0.626209|type:landmark|display=inline}}

| education = Royal Military College, Sandhurst

| occupation = Soldier, diplomat

| spouse = {{Marriage|Ethel Armstrong MacDonald|16 December 1892}}

| parents = James Dawson and Mary Ellen Macdonald

| serviceyears = 1872–1896

| branch = {{army|UK}}

| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}

| battles = Anglo-Egyptian War
Mahdist War
Boxer Rebellion

| unit = 74th Regiment of Foot

| rank = Colonel

}}

Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|GCVO|KCB|PC}} (12 June 1852 – 10 September 1915) was a British soldier and diplomat, best known for his service in China and Japan.Nish, Ian. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859–1972, pp. 94–102.

Early life

MacDonald was born the son of Mary Ellen MacDonald (nee Dougan) and Major-General James (Hamish) Dawson MacDonald.Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 214. He was educated at Uppingham School and Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the 74th Foot in 1872. He thought of himself as a "soldier-outsider", as regards his subsequent career in the Foreign Office.

Africa

MacDonald’s early career was in Africa. He served in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, and served as military attaché to Sir Evelyn Baring from 1884 to 1887. From 1887 to 1889, he was Acting-Agent and Consul-general at Zanzibar, and then served some years as Commissioner and Consul-General at Brass in the West African Oil Rivers Protectorate,{{Cite ODNB |id=34699 |title=MacDonald, Sir Claude Maxwell |first=E. W. |last=Edwards}} where in 1895 he was an observer of the rebellion of King Koko of Nembe.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/nigeriaunderbrit0000gear/page/194/mode/1up |title=Nigeria under British Rule |first=William Nevill Montgomerie |last=Geary |publisher=Barnes & Noble |pages=194–196 |date=1965 |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=Internet Archive |url-access=registration}} He retired from the British Army in 1896.

China and Korea

In 1896, MacDonald was appointed Her Majesty's Minister in China. He was simultaneously the British Minister to the Empire of Korea in 1896 through 1898.Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921–22. (1922). {{Google books|9OdAAAAAYAAJ|Korea's Appeal p. 32.|page=32}}

File:Claude Maxwell MacDonald Vanity Fair 10 October 1901.jpg for Vanity Fair, 1901]]

In China, MacDonald obtained a lease at Weihaiwei, and obtained railway contracts for British syndicates. He was instrumental in securing the Second Peking Convention, by which China leased to Britain the New Territories of Hong Kong. MacDonald secured a 99-year lease only because he thought it was "as good as forever".{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/boxerrebelliondr0000pres/page/370/mode/1up |last=Preston |first=Diana |title=The Boxer Rebellion |publisher=Berkley Books |place=New York City |isbn=0802713610 |page=370 |date=2000 |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=Internet Archive |url-access=registration}} This and the contrasting lease-in-perpetuity of Kowloon created some problems in the negotiations for the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

In 1899 MacDonald was the author of a diplomatic note which he proposed, on behalf of British India, a boundary line between Jammu and Kashmir and the Chinese Turkestan, ceding roughly half of the Aksai Chin plateau, in return for China relinquishing its shadowy suzerainty over Hunza. The proposed boundary came to be known as the Macartney–MacDonald Line. The Qing China never made any response to the proposal. But the proposed boundary is still seen by scholars and commentators to have some relevance to the present day boundary disputes between China and India.

As a military man, MacDonald led the defence of the foreign legations in 1900 which were under siege during the Boxer Rebellion, and he worked well with the Anglophile Japanese colonel Shiba Gorō.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/britishenvoysinj0000unse/page/95/mode/1up |title=British Envoys in Japan 1859–1972 |first=Ian |last=Nish |author-link=Ian Nish |editor-first=Hugh |editor-last=Cortazzi |publisher=Global Oriental |isbn=1901903516 |page=95 |date=2004 |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=Internet Archive |url-access=registration |quote=Shiba Gorō, an artillery major in the Japanese legation, was the chief staff officer and most effective collaborator of Claude MacDonald.}}

Japan

MacDonald was appointed Consul-General to the Empire of Japan in October 1900.{{London Gazette|issue=27263|date=4 January 1901|page=81}} He headed the British Legation in Tokyo during a period of harmonious relations between Britain and Japan (1900 to 1912), swapping appointments with Sir Ernest Satow who replaced him as Minister in Peking. On 30 January 1902, the first Anglo-Japanese Alliance was signed in London between the Foreign Secretary Lord Lansdowne and Hayashi Tadasu, the Japanese Minister.

File:Dame Ethel MacDonald Grave.jpg]]

MacDonald was still in Tokyo when the alliance was renewed in 1905 and 1911. He became Britain's first ambassador to Japan when the status of the legation was raised to that of embassy in 1905. Before 1905 the senior British diplomat in Japan had simultaneously held the joint positions of (a) Consul-General and (b) Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; the latter being a rank just below that of ambassador. MacDonald was made a Privy Councillor in 1906.{{London Gazette |issue=27978 |date=1906-12-21 |page=8967}}

He died of heart failure at his residence in London on 10 September 1915.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofbo0000pres/page/334/mode/1up |first=Diana |last=Preston |title=A Brief History of the Boxer Rebellion |publisher=Robinson |isbn=1-84119-490-5 |page=334 |date=2002 |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=Internet Archive |url-access=registration}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-observer-death-of-sir-claude-macdona/134961367/ |title=Death of Sir Claude MacDonald |newspaper=The Observer |publication-place=London |page=13 |date=1915-09-12 |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=Newspapers.com}} He is buried with his wife in Brookwood Cemetery.

Ethel, Lady MacDonald, DBE

File:Ethel Armstrong MacDonald (1857–1941).png, 11 July 1900]]

In 1892, MacDonald wed Ethel (1857–1941), daughter of Major W. Cairns Armstrong; they remained married until his death in 1915.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-colonies-and-india-gossip/134960674/ |title=Gossip |newspaper=The Colonies and India |page=34 |date=1892-12-24 |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had two daughters. Awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) and a Member of the Executive Committee of the Overseas Nursing Association, Lady MacDonald was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in her own right in 1935.{{London Gazette |issue=34166 |date=1906-12-21 |page=3613 |supp=y}}

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about MacDonald, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 10+ works in 20+ publications in 2 languages and 300+ library holdings.[http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/identities/default.htm WorldCat Identities] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230150412/http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/identities/default.htm |date=30 December 2010 }}: [http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n86-129349 Profile: Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald] (1852–1915)

1900 — The Japanese detachment during the defence of the Peking legations, 1900
1900 — Reports from Her Majesty's minister in China [Sir C. M. Macdonald] respecting events at Peking. Presented to parliament, Dec. 1900
1898 — Despatch from Her Majesty's minister at Peking forwarding copies of the notes exchanged with the Chinese government respecting the non-alienation of the Yang-tsze region{{cite book|title=Reports from Her Majesty's minister in China respecting events at Peking: Presented to both houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, December 1900|first=Claude M.|last=MacDonald|volume=364 of Cd. (Great Britain. Parliament)|issue=Issue 4 of China (Great Britain. Foreign Office)|year=1900|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3F4LAAAAIAAJ|access-date=1 April 2013}}

Honours

40px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).
40px Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).
40px Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB; Civil division).
40px Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB; Military division) – awarded on 29 November 1900 "in recognition of services during the recent Operations in China".{{London Gazette |issue=27337 |date=25 July 1901 |page=4915 |supp=y}}
40px Egypt Medal (1882–1889) with clasps "Suakin 1884", "El-Teb" and "Tamaai".
40px Order of Osmanieh, Fourth Class (Ottoman Empire).
40px Khedive's Star (Khedivate of Egypt)

Notes

References

Nish, Ian. (2004). British Envoys in Japan 1859–1972. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. {{ISBN|9781901903515}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/249167170 OCLC 249167170]
{{cite book|last=Kowner|first=Rotem|author-link=Rotem Kowner|year=2006|title=Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War|publisher = Scarecrow|isbn= 0-8108-4927-5}}

External links

UK in Japan, [http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/our-embassy/our-ambassador/previous-ambassadors Chronology of Heads of Mission] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213151646/http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/our-embassy/our-ambassador/previous-ambassadors |date=13 February 2013 }}

{{S-bef|before= William Nelthorpe Beauclerk|as= Chargé d'affaires}}