Background
He was born in Cargins, Company Galway, Ireland and educated at the Jesuit College, Toulouse, France (abtaining an Doctor of Medicine in 1758) and the School of Medicine in Montpellier, France.
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George Leonard
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He was awarded a Data Control Language by Oxford University in 1790.
Career
He initially practised as a physician in the West Indies but switched to law and was made Attorney-General in Grenada in 1779. He was elected in February 1787 a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1793, he was named Secretary to the British mission to the Chinese Imperial court.
This diplomatic and trade mission would be headed by Lord Macartney.
Although the Macartney Embassy returned to London without obtaining any concession from China, the mission could have been termed a success because it brought back detailed observations. Staunton was charged with producing the official account of the expedition after their return.
This multi-volume work was taken chiefly from the papers of Lord Macartney and from the papers of Sir Erasmus Gower, who was Commander of the expedition. Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, was responsible for selecting and arranging engraving of the illustrations in this official record.
He died at his London house, 17 Devonshire Street, on 14 January 1801 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a monument by Sir Francis Chantrey is erected to his memory.
Membership
Royal Society.
Connections
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Born
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Died
January 14, 1801 (aged 63) -
Nationality
Ireland United Kingdom