Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (1837-1916), Diplomat and writer

Sitter in 7 portraits
Freeman-Mitford entered the Foreign Office in 1858, and was appointed Third Secretary of the Embassy in St Petersburg. After service in the Diplomatic Corps in Peking, he went to Japan as Second Secretary to the British Legation. There he wrote Tales of Old Japan (1871), a book that made many classical tales known to a Western public. He returned to England in 1870, and spent twelve years as Secretary to H.M. Office of Works. In 1886 his cousin the Earl of Redesdale died unmarried, leaving Mitford his very considerable fortune. He resigned his office, sold his London house, and took possession of his cousin's Gloucestershire estate. In 1902 he entered the House of Lords as Baron Redesdale.