Record

Authorised form of nameAglionby; William (c 1642 - 1705); diplomat and writer
Datesc 1642 - 1705
NationalityBritish
Date of birthc. 1642
Date of death7 December 1705
OccupationDiplomat
ActivityEducation:
University of Bordeaux (MD)
Career:
Secretary to Sir William Temple, Ambassador to Holland (1678); licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (1687); employed in the Post Office (c1688); Secretary to Lord Dursley, Envoy Extraordinary to The Hague (1689-1690); Envoy to Spain (1692-1693); shipwrecked and robbed on the coast of Corsica en route from Barcelona to Turin (1693); Envoy Extraordinary to the Duke of Savoy (1694); negotiated new postal arrangements with Payot, Farmer-General of the French Posts, at Calais (1698); carried a letter to the King of Spain (1701); employed in the Office of the Secretary of State, Daniel Finch, Earl of Nottingham (FRS 1668); Envoy Extraordinary to Switzerland; returned to England (1705)
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election07/11/1667
ProposerSir Anthony Morgan
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
Council: 1683-84, 1686, 1690, 1694, 1696, 1698-99, 1702
Other Royal Society activityPublished in the 'Philosophical Transactions' on the nature of silk (1699)
RelationshipsParents: George Aglionby and Sibella Smith
Married: Catherine Hildyard
PublishedWorksRCN: 24512
OtherInfoThrough his father's career and connections, Aglionby was supported after his death by the third earl of Devonshire, in particular in his education. Through this and his travels, he was fluent in multiple languages and his fluency in French even caused him some difficulties in proving he was an Englishman in France. His major publication is considered to be 'Painting Illustrated in Three Diallogues' (1685), supporting the view that Italian history painting was the superior genre of art. Aglionby was in correspondence with various peers, such as Hans Sloane (FRS 1685) or Charles Berkeley (FRS 1667).
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SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; Hunter; information on family supplied by Judge Francis Aglionby (1988); ODNB
References:
Clark, R. 1938. 'Sir William Trumbull in Paris 1685-1686' (Cambridge University Press)
Notes & Queries 12 ser 9 (1921) pp 141-143
Notes:
ODNB has date of birth as mid 1641. ODNB has date of death as 28 November 1705.
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/5273899
CodeNA6675
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
MM/18/30Letter from Charles S Sherrington to Ronald Winckworth, Assistant Secretary, Royal Society30 July 1936
RBO/9/29'An account of the nature of Silk as it is made in Piedmont' communicated by William Aglionbynd
NLB/19/693Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Fellow of the Royal Society 24 November 1899
MS/390/69Bond of William Aglionby to the Treasurer of the Royal Society1 July 1675
CLP/15i/59Paper, 'Of the nature of silk as it is made in Piedmont [Italy]' by William AglionbyMay 1699
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