US Consular Representation in Britain Since 1790

"The United States started late in the day in establishing its consular service. It was a very amateurish organization, often staffed by unsuitable characters whose appointments had been sought as political favours - the so-called Spoils System. Most personnel changed every four years when the administrations changed. This compared unfavourably with the consular services of the European nations, but gradually by the turn of the twentieth century things had improved considerably-- appointment procedures were tightened up, inspections of consuls and their running of their consulates were introduced, and the once separate consular and diplomatic services were merged. The first appointments to Britain were made in 1790, with James Maury, a Virginian, becoming the first operational consul in the country, at Liverpool. At one point, there was a network of up to ninety US consular offices throughout the UK, stretching from the Orkney Islands to the Channel Islands"--