Sir Thomas Roe

Thomas Roe was a diplomat who advanced British mercantile interests in Asia.

Before he started his diplomatic career, Roe was sent on a mission to the West Indies, during which he visited Guiana and the Amazon River with the aim to found the gold in which the West Indies were believed to be abound. He was sent there on three occasions, but without results.

During his four years residence (1614-1618) at the court of the Mogul emperor Jāhāngīr, Roe managed significantly to improve the fortunes of the English East India Company. His mission at the Ottoman court (1621-1628) was also marked by success as the English merchants trading in the Ottoman Empire were granted increased privileges.

As a skilled diplomat, Roe mediated several peace treaties including that between the Ottoman Empire and Poland, and Sweden and Poland regarding the Thirty Years’ War for which he received a gift of £2,000 from the Swedish king. He also served as the English representative at three conferences in Hamburg (1638), Ratisbon (1641) and Vienna (1642) where attempts were made to end the Thirty Years’ War.

In 1637 Roe was appointed chancellor of the Order of the Garter and given an annual pension of £1,200 the following year. In 1640 he was made a privy councilor and was elected a member of the Long Parliament.

Due to his poor health, he retired from the public life in 1643. He wrote numerous diplomatic memoirs, the “Embassy of Sir T. Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul” (1899) being only one of them.