Resident (title) - Resident Ministers

Resident Ministers

This full style was common as a diplomatic rank for the head of a mission ranking just below envoy, usually reflecting the relatively low status of the states of origin and/or residency, or else difficult relations.

On occasion, the Resident Minister's role could become extremely important, as when in 1806 the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV fled his kingdom of Naples, and Lord William Bentinck, the British Resident, was the author of a new and relatively liberal constitution.

Residents could also be posted with shadowy governments. For instance, the British sent Residents to the Mameluk Beys who ruled Baghdad province as an autonomous state in the north of what is now Iraq, until the Ottoman sultans regained control over it and its Wali (governor).

Even after the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was restored by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the British posted a "mere" Resident to Florence.

As international relations developed, it became customary to give the highest title of diplomatic rank, ambassador, to the head of all permanent missions in any country, except as a temporary expression of downturned relations or where representation was merely an interim arrangement.