Stratford Canning

(Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe). Born Nov. 4,1786 in London; died Aug. 14,1880, in Frant, Sussex. English diplomat.

As chargé d’affaires, Canning headed the British embassy in Turkey from 1810 to 1812. He later served as envoy to Switzerland (1814–18) and to the United States (1819–23) and as ambassador to Turkey (1825–27 and 1841–58). In 1832, Canning was appointed ambassador to Russia, but Tsar Nicholas I refused to receive him. Canning contributed to the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853–56) when in 1853 he provoked the head of the Russian mission in Turkey, A. S. Menshikov, into presenting Turkey with an ultimatum, which resulted in the rupturing of Russo-Turkish relations.

While in retirement (from 1858), Canning published a series of articles on the Eastern Question that was consistently hostile to Russia.