Sir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st Baronet

Sir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st Baronet, PC, DL (16 February 1796 – 17 March 1847) was a British diplomat and author.

Born Harford Jones, he was the son of Harford Jones of Presteigne, Radnorshire, and his wife, Winifred "née" Hooper. On 16 February 1796, he married Sarah, the eldest daughter of Sir Henry Gott of Newland Park, Buckinghamshire, and widow of Robert Whitcombe; they had one son and two daughters. In commemoration of his descent, through his maternal grandmother, from the family of Brydges of Old Colwall, Herefordshire, he assumed, by Royal Licence dated 4 May 1826, the additional name of Brydges.

Early in life, Jones entered the service of the Honourable East India Company, working as an assistant and factor at Basra in 1783–94, and the Company's Resident in Baghdad in 1798–1806. He acquired great proficiency in oriental languages, and with the assistance of Robert Dundas's patronage, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, where he remained from 1807 to 1810. In 1807, he was created a baronet in recognition of him being the first formal diplomat to that country and the importance of the mission. His main achievement was the Preliminary Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of 1809 which effectively barred France from the route to India. He began the involvement of British military instructors in the Persian army and he prevented peace between Persia and Russia. On his return from Persia, seeing no immediate prospect of promotion in the service of the East India Company, he severed his connection with it. Throughout life, he cherished a warm interest in the welfare both of Persians and Indians. In 1833, he published "The Dynasty of the Kajars, Translated from the Original Persian Manuscript"; in the following year "An Account of the Transactions of His Majesty's Mission to the Court of Persia in the years 1807–11"; and in 1838 a "Letter on the Present State of British Interests and Affairs in Persia". He pleaded the cause of the Emirs of Sindh in a letter of 1843 to the court of directors of the East India Company, denouncing the policy of annexation and conquest.

Jones-Brydges was 'a man who was underrated both at the time and subsequently'. His years in Baghdad changed the direction of British policy in the Middle East and on his Persian mission he proved resourceful and effective. In politics, he was a decided Whig and took an active interest in the election contests of Radnorshire, where he founded a political association known as the Grey Coat Club. On 15 June 1831, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford. In 1835, he was sworn of the Privy Council, and in 1841 was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Herefordshire. He died at his seat at Boultibrook, near Presteigne, on 17 March 1847.

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