Edmund Roberts

Edmund Roberts (June 29, 1784 – June 12, 1836) was an American diplomat. Appointed by President Andrew Jackson, he served as the United States' first envoy to the Far East and went on USS Peacock on non-resident diplomatic missions to the courts of Cochinchina, Thailand ("Siam") and Muscat and Oman during 1832 to 1836.

Roberts concluded treaties with Thailand and Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, ratified in Washington, D.C. 30 June 1834. He returned in 1836 to exchange ratifications with Oman and Thailand and to the court of Minh Mạng in Vietnam for a second attempt at negotiation. He fell ill with dysentery and died in Portuguese Macau, which precluded his becoming America's first envoy to Edo Japan.

Early life

Roberts was born 29 June 1784 to Sarah Griffiths of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Royal Navy Captain Edmund Roberts, who died 15 November 1787 and was interred in North Cemetery. New Hampshire (with only 16 miles (26 km) of coastline) and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine are credited with shaping Roberts' character. At age 13 he received through his congressman a Midshipman's warrant in the United States Navy but waived the appointment at his mother's wish for him to remain at home while she lived.

Roberts set out to sea in 1800, eventually residing in London until age 24. Returning in 1808, he married Miss Catherine Whipple Langdon, daughter of Judge Woodbury Langdon and niece of Governor John Langdon, both of whom were engaged in the New England triangular trade between Portsmouth, the Caribbean and London. Of the couple's 11 children, 8 survived their parents.