Henry Shelton Sanford

A carte-de-visite portrait of Henry Shelton Sanford (1823-1891), the American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Belgium from 1861 to 1869. A wealthy businessman from Connecticut, he is also known for founding the city of Sanford in Florida.

Sanford was later hired by King Leopold II to lobby the United States government to recognise the Belgian king's claim to the Congo region of central Africa. The area became the Congo Free State, which Leopold ran as his own personal fiefdom. The forced labour system that prevailed under his administration and the resulting loss of life became one of the greatest international scandals of the early twentieth century.

Photographed in 1863 by Ward and Co of Torquay in Devon.

From an album compiled by Augustus Cholmondeley Gough-Calthorpe (1829-1910), 6th Baron Calthorpe from 1893.