(William) Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, Baron Dalling and Bulwer

Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 3 portraits
Bulwer joined the British Army in 1825 and entered the diplomatic service two years later. In 1838, he negotiated the Ponsonby Treaty with Turkey, which secured important advantages for British trade in the Ottoman Empire. He was appointed Ambassador to Spain in 1843 but his sympathies with the cause of Spanish constitutionalism led to his expulsion from the country. As British Ambassador to the United States from 1849 to 1852, he negotiated the 1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which included the possibility of a canal crossing Central America. The treaty was unpopular in the United States because of its concessions to Great Britain. In 1856, Bulwer played a major part in the negotiations following the Crimean War.