Sir Thomas Roe (1581-1644), Eary Envoy to Poland

The history of contact between Poland and Britain goes back for over 1,000 years. Canute, King of England, Denmark and Norway, was half- Polish.  (His mother, Princess Swietoslawa, was the sister of Boleslaw the Great and is buried in Winchester.)  When Canute invaded and conquered England in 1016-17 he was helped by 300 Polish cavalry and a contingent of Polish infantry.

An early diplomatic contact was in 1414 when a British Ambassador sought Polish help in England’s war with France.  The first Resident Ambassador, Sir John Wallop, arrived in Warsaw in 1526.  The present Ambassador, Ric Todd, calculates he is the 56th British Ambassador to be resident in Poland.

Dealings between monarchs and Governments in the past were usually through Ambassadors. Many things have changed since 1414 in the role of an Ambassador – technology, rapid communications, international air travel and international organisations to name but a few.  But some things have not.  The early British Ambassadors were responsible for understanding the situation in Poland, representing British interests and persuading Polish rulers to do what Britain wanted.  They were active in assisting British business and citizens in Poland, such as difficulties with Polish law.  They were also dealing with problems caused by British nationals in Poland, such as Scottish beggars an footloose ex-soldiers (the hooligans of their day).  But Polish monarchs liked the English.  King Stefan Batory in 1578 declared “we forbid all persons henceforth to molest English merchants travelling and trading in our domain … and those who act otherwise will incur our most severe displeasure”.

The interest taken by British Ambassadors in trade with Poland is not new and should not surprise.  Trade connections seem even older than political ones: coins minted by the English King Ethelred in the 10th century have been found near Gdansk.  In the 16th century England’s shipping relied on timber imported from the Baltic.  Gdansk was a major interest for business and diplomacy with up to 15,000 Britons living there in the late 16th century.  

Another common thread is that, from the beginning, British Ambassadors in Poland complained that they had insufficient money.  In 1583 Sir John Herbert said that his pay was inadequate for “the pomp which custom here enforces me to use, in apparel, for the maintenance of Her Majesty’s honour and the credit of our nation”. One Ambassador, John Robinson (later a bishop) in 1703 was described as having “difficulties with money. … His allowances were habitually in arrears and his complaints to the Treasury numerous”.

Fortunately (and despite a recent leaked e-mail), Ambassadors have always been able to communicate with their capitals in confidence.  Sir George Carew, Ambassador in 1598, spoke warmly of Poland as a defence against the Muscovite “menace”.  Poland’s neighbours, he noted, were “the most barbarous and powerful nations in the world”.  As for the Poles, he saw them as “large of body, tall, upright and personable. The gentry full of ceremonies, civil and courteous in entertainment, bountiful at table, costly in diet, great gourmands and quaffers, not sleepy nor heavy in their drunkenness, but furious, quarrelsome and high-minded.”  He also admired the “sweetness of Polish liberty which gave privileges and protection to various ethnic groups living in Poland”.  He liked King Sigismund III Vaza (who kept a troupe of English actors).  But in Carew’s view, the King “was an unsuitable ruler for such a powerful and turbulent state as Poland”.

British Ambassadors have been a mixed collection.  Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador 1629-30, had had an adventurous career before Warsaw, including sailing up the Amazon to the Orinoco and exploring the coast of Trinidad.  He mediated peace between Turkey and Poland and secured the release of hundreds of Polish prisoners for which King Sigismund was grateful.  He described Sultan Osman II as “crazed through many vices, which remain, when the youth and strength is decayed”.  Another, Laurence Hyde, played billiards with King John Sobieski and made a striking impression.  He campaigned with the King against the Turks in Lwow.  However, as a historian noted, he was “the smoothest man in court until success made him insolent”.  (Perhaps this is a danger to which Ambassadors have always been prone.)  Others did not do so well.  Thomas Villiers (1738-40 and 1741-6) was “diligent, reasonable and loyal but has no success at all”.

Charles Hanbury Williams, Ambassador 1747-55, was described as “a bright genius and dangerously great”.  He employed the young Stanislas August Poniatowski as his secretary and took him on his mission to St Petersburg, which is when Stanislas August began his affair with Empress Catherine the Great.  It is not usual for Ambassadors to play Cupid.  Sadly, Williams ended up committing suicide.  A subsequent Ambassador, Sir Thomas Wroughton, did not get on well with Stanislas August.  He was removed as Ambassador at Stanislas August’s request in 1769

He was not alone in failing to meet Polish favour.  Carew was told to leave Gdansk and return home.  Dr Christopher Parkins was expelled by King Sigismund III after the Papal Nuncio complained that Parkins was a defrocked priest.

Happily Stanislas August had high regard for the last British Ambassador to the 1st Republic of Poland, George Gardiner (1792-5).  “Your place will be in (my heart) till my death.”

The restoration of Poland’s independence in 1919 led to a rather more quiet sort of Ambassador.  Some made an impact and others did not.  Of Sir Owen O’Malley in1943, it was said, “his powerful intellect was not matched with the kind of warm personality which secured results”.  Others were perhaps less exciting.  Of Sir Francis Shepherd (1952-54), it was written, “he could sometimes be persuaded on formal occasions to read the humorous verse which he was fond of composing”.

Ambassadors – and others – who complain of Polish roads or delays in their agrément, should remember how it took one Ambassador three months to meet the King. And one Ambassador travelled for many days to get from Warsaw to Krakow.

Another part of an Ambassador’s job has always been attending receptions.  But the difficulty of this is nothing new either.  Daniel Hailes, Ambassador 1788-92, suffered from “spleen (ie bad temper) and boredom” because of the continual round of receptions.  But he also successfully lobbied the Polish Parliament to exempt English beer from taxes – a fine achievement.