Walter Beaupré Townley


Sir Walter Beaupré Townley was a British diplomat, who most notably served as the British Ambassador to the Netherlands during the final years of the First World War.

Career

Townley was educated at Eton College. He entered the Foreign Office in 1885 and served at Paris, Teheran, Bucharest, Lisbon, Berlin, Rome, Peking, Constantinople and Washington, D.C. He was Minister to Argentina and concurrently to Paraguay 1906–10, Minister to Romania 1911–12, Minister to Persia 1912–15 and Minister to the Netherlands 1917–1919. During his time in the Netherlands he had to engage in long negotiations on the fate of the exiled German Emperor, who arrived in November 1918. In Townley's obituary The Times said:
Townley resigned in January 1919 but was asked to stay on until August of that year. After retiring he was chairman of the Anglo-Batavian Society.
Townley was knighted KCMG in the 1911 Coronation Honours.

Lady Susan Townley

In 1896 Walter Townley married Lady Susan Keppel, daughter of William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle. She published My Chinese note book and a volume of reminiscences,‘Indiscretions’ of Lady Susan. After her death in 1953, The Times said: