John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio
Encyclopedia
Sir John Francis Charles de Salis, 7th Count de Salis, KCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

, CVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

 (19 July 1864 - 14 January 1939) was a British diplomat and landowner.

He was the eldest son of Count John Francis William de Salis
John Francis William, 6th Count de Salis-Soglio
John Francis William de Salis, 6th Count de Salis was a British diplomat and coin connoisseur.He was the eldest son of Count Peter John de Salis by his second wife Cecile Henrietta Marguerite, daughter of David Bourgeoise of Neuchâtel.After some education in London he was an Attache in Turin . ...

 (1825–1871), a diplomat and renowned numismaticist
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...

 of Hillingdon, by his wife Amelia Frances Harriet (1837-8.1.1885), daughter of Christopher Tower, JP DL MP, of Huntsmoor Park, Iver
Iver
Iver is in the south-east corner of the English county of Buckinghamshire and it forms one of the largest civil parishes in the South Bucks district.Iver railway station is in Richings Park.-Etymology:...

 and Weald Hall
Weald Country Park
Weald Country Park is a 700-year-old, 500 acre country park in South Weald in the borough of Brentwood in the English county of Essex. It is on the north-east fringe of Greater London....

, Essex.
After Eton (1877–1882) he was nominated an Attaché in the diplomatic service 20 November 1886. He passed a competitive examination, January 14, 1887. On 12 June 1888 he was appointed to Brussels as an Attaché and promoted to 3rd Secretary, January 14, 1889; thence...; 24 April 1892 Madrid; Promoted to 2nd Secretary August 22, 1893; August 1894 Cairo under Lord Cromer
Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer
Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, GCB, OM, GCMG, KCSI, CIE, PC, FRS , was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator....

 in charge of the agency there when the Dervishes were active (he was granted an allowance for knowledge of Arabic, April 2, 1895); autumn 1897 Berlin; 1899 Brussels; 1901 Athens, head of chancery (dealing with the Macedonian problem); promoted to be a 1st Secretary April 1, 1904. Employed 1901-06 Foreign Office London; Appointed a British Delegate for a negotiation of a new Commercial Convention with Roumania, September 7, 1905; Berlin charge d'affairs and counsellor of the embassy 1906-1911; was a British delegate at the International Copyright Conference at Berlin, October, November 1908; November 1911-16 Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King
Nicholas I of Montenegro
Nikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning "Onamo, 'namo!", a popular song from Montenegro.-Early life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the...

 of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

, Cettinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...

; envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary on a special mission to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

, 1916–1923, (Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...

 1916-1922, and same to Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

 1922-1923). Unemployed from January 8, 1923.

He was one of the three members of the 1931 of the Malta Royal Commission, report issued in a blue-book, 11 February 1932.

De Salis Report

In 1919 the British Government sent de Salis to investigate the situation created in Montenegro by the Serbian occupation.
The report was suppressed. Alex. Devine
Alexander Devine
Alexander Devine was a British educator and activist for Montenegrin independence.He became involved in social work at an early point, founding the Lads' Club Movement in 1887...

 in The Martyred Nation, 1924 wrote: The fact is the Report contains such a damning indictment of Serbian rule
Christmas Uprising
The Christmas Uprising or Christmas Rebellion refers to the uprising of Montenegrin guerrilla fighters aimed against the planned unification of Montenegro with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes...

 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
Ronald McNeill, 1st Baron Cushendun
Ronald John McNeill, 1st Baron Cushendun PC was a British Conservative politician.-Background and education:...

, over and over again, asked about production of the Report and De Salis's possible arrest. 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, http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/nov/29/montenegroLord Sydenham
George Clarke, 1st Baron Sydenham of Combe
George Sydenham Clarke, 1st Baron Sydenham of Combe GCSI, GCIE, GCMG, GBE was a British colonial administrator and British Army officer.-Background and education:Clarke was born in Lincolnshire...

 ] in the House of Lords, Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...

, 29 November 1920 said:
The Papers for which I ask are two. The first is the Report of Count de Salis, which the noble Earl [ Curzon
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...

 ] 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, May 1, 1922, published in the New York Times, May 7, 1922, Ronald Tree
Ronald Tree
Arthur Ronald Lambert Field Tree , was an American-born British journalist, investor and Conservative Member of Parliament for the Harborough constituency in Leicestershire.-Biography:...

 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
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 to Nicholas
Nicholas I of Montenegro
Nikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning "Onamo, 'namo!", a popular song from Montenegro.-Early life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the...

. Paris, April 2.
-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
Nicholas I of Montenegro
Nikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning "Onamo, 'namo!", a popular song from Montenegro.-Early life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the...

, 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
Podgorica Assembly
The Podgorica Assembly , in full the Great National Assembly of the Serb People in Montenegro , was an assembly held in Podgorica that served as the representative body of the Montenegrin people during the...

. 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
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

, 'the great champion of small nations, persistently turns a deaf ear'.


The sensitivity of the issue is shown none by of his four obituaries in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

(1937) mentioning either his Montenegran Report or the arrest.

Estate

In 1883 the Count was listed in Bateman's
Bateman's 'Great Landowners' (1883)
John Bateman FRGS published the fourth edition of his The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland, A list of all owners of Three thousand acres and upwards, worth £3,000 a year; Also, one thousand three hundred owners of Two thousand acres and upwards, in England, Scotland, Ireland, & Wales,...

 Great Landowners, (information came via Landowners, Return of Owners of Land, Dublin, 1876), as being of Tandragee and London and owning 3663 acres (14.8 km²) worth £5,392 per annum in County Armagh and 4026 acres (16.3 km²) worth £3,349 per annum in County Limerick. These Irish estates derived from Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath
Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath
Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath was an English Peer of the Realm, Lord Privy Seal, and landowner in counties Limerick, Armagh, Devon and Somerset-Biography:Sir Henry Bourchier was probably born and was certainly brought up in Ireland...

 (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
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....

 (DL) for Limerick. Debret's Peerage in 1925 had his seats as: Loughgur
Lough Gur
Lough Gur is a lake in County Limerick, Ireland between the towns of Herbertstown and Bruff. The lake forms a horseshoe shape at the base of Knockadoon Hill and some rugged elevated countryside. It is one of Ireland's most important archaeological sites...

, co. Limerick; and Bondo, Bregalia, Grisons. His livery
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...

 was: green coat with a yellow waistcoat.

In addition to his CVO, CMG and KCMG, he held the 2nd Class Prussian Order of the Red Eagle
Order of the Red Eagle
The Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements...

, and the 1911 Coronation Medal.

Wife and her family

He married in Brussels, 6 December 1890, Hélène Marie de Riquet, Comtesse de Caraman-Chimay (born chateau de Ménars, Loire 18.8.1864 - died Bruxelles 31 May 1902), daughter of Marie Eugène Auguste de Riquet, Prince de Caraman-Chimay
Chimay
Chimay a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006, Chimay had a total population of 9,774. The total area is 197.10 km² which gives a population density of 50 inhabitants per km²...

, of the chateau de Beaumont (Hainault), (born Ménars, 08.01.1847, died chateau de Chimay, Hainault, Wallonia 20.6.1881) by Louise de Graffenried-Villars (born Ile de France 17.6.1842, died Bxl. 18.10.1901).
Prince Eugene was son of Joseph Philippe de Riquet de Caraman, 17th Prince de Chimay and 1st Prince de Caraman, of Chimay, Ménars, etc., (born Paris 20.8.1808, died London 12.3.1886) by Émilie Louise Marie Françoise Joséphine Pellapra
Émilie Louise Marie Françoise Joséphine Pellapra
Émilie Pellapra , comtesse de Brigode, princesse de Chimay, was the daughter of Françoise-Marie LeRoy and possibly Napoleon I of France. She claimed to be the product of her mother's affair with the French Emperor which supposedly took place in April 1805, but this date is incompatible with...

, (born Lyon 11.11.1806, died Ménars 22.5.1871).

Prince Eugene was grandson of François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet
François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet
François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet , comte de Caraman was the 16th Prince de Chimay from 24 July 1804 to 1843....

, Count de Caraman, 16th Prince de Chimay, (born Paris 21.9.1771, died Toulouse 2.3.1843), by Juana Maria Ignazia Teresa Cabarrús, Madame Tallien
Thérésa Tallien
Thérésa Cabarrus, Madame Tallien , was a French social figure during the Revolution. Later she became Princess of Chimay.-Early life:...

, (born Carabanchel Alto, Spain 31.7.1773, died Chimay 15.1.1835), who he married in Paris 22.8.1805.

In December 1902 his sister-in-law Alice (1868–1953) married Prince Giovanni Borghese
Borghese
Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century holding offices under the commune. The head of the family, Marcantonio, moved to Rome in the 16th century and there,...

 (1855–1918), (brother of Prince de Vivaro, Duke de Ceri, and Duke de Poggio-Naturo. His sister-in-law Louise Emilie (1871-Budapest 18 Jul 1944) married, 1896, Dénes Othon Alexander Franz Graf Széchényi v. Sárvár-Felsövidék (1866–1934). Ernestine Magdeleine (1879–1914) married, 1900, Joseph Ladislas Emanuel Maria Graf Hunyady (1873–1942) and his brother-in-law Charles Philippe (1881–1931) married, 1913, Marie Berthe Jeanne de Boisgelin (1889-Lausanne 18 Sep 1967).

Clubs

He was a member of the Marlborough; Bath; White's
White's
White's is a London gentlemen's club, established at 4 Chesterfield Street in 1693 by Italian immigrant Francesco Bianco . Originally it was established to sell hot chocolate, a rare and expensive commodity at the time...

; and Travellers'
Travellers Club
The Travellers Club is a gentlemen's club standing at 106 Pall Mall, London. It is the oldest of the surviving Pall Mall clubs, having been established in 1819, and was recently described by the Los Angeles Times as "the quintessential English gentleman's club." Visits are possible by invitation...

.

Brother

Count (Henry) Rodolph (Rudie) de Salis (30 June 1866 - 25 Feb 1936).
Author Bradshaw
George Bradshaw
George Bradshaw was an English cartographer, printer and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables.-Biography:...

'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
Butterley Tunnel
Butterley Tunnel is a one and three quarter mile long canal tunnel on the Cromford Canal below Ripley, in Derbyshire, England, opened to traffic in 1794.-Origins:...

).

Educated at Eton (1880–1884) (Shooting VIII, 1882–83, Peek Cup, 1883). Associate Member Institution Civil Engineers. 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
Fellows Morton and Clayton
Fellows Morton & Clayton Ltd was, for much of the early 20th century, the largest and best-known canal transportation company in England. The company was in existence from 1889 to 1947.-Origins:...

 (canal carriers); Windsor Electrical Installation Co. Ltd (1901–1920); Slough and Datchet Electrical Supply Co. Ltd (1908–1920).

He married, 9 May 1893, Alice Mary (d.10 June 1939), daughter of Robert Lambert (of the Monmouthshire, 43rd, Light Infantry), of Weston, Thames Ditton.
They lived at Ivy Lodge, Iver
Iver
Iver is in the south-east corner of the English county of Buckinghamshire and it forms one of the largest civil parishes in the South Bucks district.Iver railway station is in Richings Park.-Etymology:...

Heath, Buckinghamshire; Acton Lodge, Church Hill, Leamington Spa; and retired to Chy-Morvah, St. Ives, Cornwall. He was found shot dead in his bedroom at Acton Lodge on February 25, 1936.

From The Times, February 26, 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 Bir-
mingham. A recognised authority on canal
traffic problems, he was the chairman of Messrs.
Fellows, Morton and Clayton canal carriers.
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