John Savile-Lumley

John Savile-Lumley, born in 1818, entered the Foreign Office in 1841 and soon joined the British mission in Berlin. He spent seven years there before moving to St. Petersburg in 1849. In October 1854 he became secretary of the Washington legation, serving under John Crampton. Marian Gouverneur, who knew him socially, recalled his frequent visits to her family's G Street home and his service as chargé d'affaires in 1855. ^{1, 2}

During the Crimean War recruitment controversy, Savile-Lumley handled correspondence about efforts to obtain soldiers in the United States for Britain's foreign legion. On 21 May 1855 he forwarded exchanges with the British consul at Mobile concerning a Polish resident's offer to recruit compatriots. Foreign Secretary Clarendon subsequently ordered that enlistment proceedings cease. ³

After special duty in New York, he went to Madrid in 1858, followed by Constantinople and St. Petersburg. He later represented Britain in Saxony, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy. At Rome he also pursued archaeology, excavating at ancient Lanuvium and helping assemble collections that reached the British Museum and Nottingham. A painter and collector, he became a National Gallery trustee and donated a Velázquez painting to the gallery. He inherited Rufford in 1887, adopted Savile as his surname, and retired with a peerage in 1888. He died at Rufford on 28 November 1896. ¹