Person:Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons (1)

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Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons, (21 November 179023 November 1858) was an eminent British Admiral of the Royal Navy, and an eminent British diplomat, who was responsible for encouraging the Crimean War, during which he was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, and for the securing the subsequent allied victory in the conflict, through his efforts at the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) with both the Navy and the British Army.

As a consequence of his linguistic ability and favour with foreign aristocrats, Lyons was appointed to various diplomatic posts, including important ambassadorial positions in Sweden, Switzerland, and to the court of King King Otto of Greece. Lyons's temerity, ambition, and charisma, for which his white-blonde hair and pale complexion became a byword, made him popular with the High Commands of the Royal Navy and British Army and with the British aristocracy, with whom he maintained secret private correspondences to which his naval immediate superiors were not privy. His friendship with Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, facilitated the integration of deployments that ensured allied victory in the Crimean War.

Edmund Lyons was the father of the diplomat Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons, the British Ambassador to the USA who solved the Trent Affair, and later British Ambassador to France. Edmund's eldest brother was Vice-Admiral John Lyons^[1] (1787–1872),^[2] who was on board at the Battle of Trafalgar and who served as British Ambassador in Egypt,^[2] and his nephews included Sir Algernon McLennan Lyons, Admiral of the Fleet (1833–1908).^[3]

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.