John Burnaby

John Burnaby (1701–1774) was a British diplomat. He was Resident minister to the Swiss cantons.

Biography Burnaby was the son of John Burnaby, of Kensington, and his wife Clara Wood. His brother was Sir William Burnaby, 1st Baronet. He served as secretary to James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave as Ambassador to Austria and then in France. He was recalled from Stockholm in 1741 and sent to Bern in 1743, where he served as Resident minister to the Swiss cantons until 1750. The ferry Reichenbach-Engehalbinsel was established for Burnaby, who had rented Reichenbach Castle in Zollikofen as his summer residence in 1743. In December 1749, the Bernese authorities presented Burnaby with a golden chain with a Sechzehnerpfennig (coin) as a thank you for his services.

Burnaby's daughter Maria had a relationship with the Bernese cloth merchant Daniel Zeerleder (1731-1793). They had a son together, Johann Daniel Zeerleder (1765-1774).

In a memorandum with the subject Traduction des Loix de Berne, Burnaby mentions that he had procured an enclosed manuscript with great difficulty and that it would be useful to have it translated for future Ministers. The manuscript had never appeared in print, did not yet exist as a copy in England and could not be acquired in Bern. The manuscript mentioned is either a copy of the Rotes Buch or the Burgerspunkten. Both were the fundamental laws of the Republic of Bern and never appeared in print during the Ancien Régime.

Burnaby died in September 1774.

Documents Burnaby to the Duke of Newcastle, Berne, 4.4.1747, Swiss Federal Archives, P London 10 Sammlung von Bündnissen der Alten Eidgenossenschaft sowie von Bündnissen und Burgrechten mit der Stadt Bern, Bern (?), um 1616 (mit Zusätzen 17. Jh.), Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 54 John Burnaby, Letter book, English and French, eighteenth century, St John's College W.118 Letter by John Burnaby to the City Council of Fribourg, sine dato, Mss.Mül.531 (13), in the catalogue of Burgerbibliothek Bern Correspondence to Fribourg, 18th century, FA von Fellenberg 167.29 (20), in the catalogue of Burgerbibliothek Bern