Richard Pakenham

Sir Richard Pakenham PC (19 May 1797 – 28 October 1868) was a British diplomat of Anglo-Irish background. He served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1843 until 1847, during which time he unsuccessfully worked to prevent the U.S. annexation of Texas and California by establishing British forces there instead. Early life Pakenham, the fifth son of Admiral Sir Thomas Pakenham, by his wife, Louisa, daughter of the Right Hon. John Staples, was born at Pakenham Hall, County Westmeath, Ireland. He completed his education at Trinity College, Dublin, and, apparently without waiting to take a degree, entered the Foreign Office on 15 October 1817. Career His first appointment was as attaché to his uncle, the Earl of Clancarty, at The Hague. His next appointment was as secretary of the legation in Switzerland (26 January 1824). On 29 December 1826 he was appointed to the same position in Mexico; on 12 March 1835, he was promoted to Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico. In this capacity he seems to have been popular and efficient. Perhaps the most troublesome of his negotiations was for the abolition of the slave trade: the Mexican government objected to the right of search, and negotiations dragged on for four years, but he obtained a treaty in 1841. He was in Mexico during the Pastry War between Mexico and France, and in February 1839 was dispatched to Veracruz with the object of trying to effect a reconciliation between the two countries.