Sir George Thomas Staunton, 2nd Baronet, , (26 May 1781 – 10 August 1859) was a British writer, orientalist and politician.
Early life
thumb|Lady Jane Staunton (d. 1823) with her son, afterwards Sir George Thomas Staunton Bart. (1781–1859), and a Chinese attendant holding a chest of tea. ([[John Hoppner, circa 1792)]]
Born at Milford House near Salisbury, he was the son of Sir George Leonard Staunton (1737–1801), first baronet, diplomatist and Orientalist. In 1792, at the age of 12, he accompanied his father, who had been appointed secretary to Lord Macartney's mission to China, to the Far East (1792–1794). Prior to the trip the young George Staunton had begun to learn Chinese alongside Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet and for the duration was therefore given the role of Page to Lord Macartney.
Many people came to ask for help in both learning the Chinese dialect there and staying, including Robert Morrison and Thomas Manning.
In 1816 Staunton proceeded as second commissioner on a special mission to Beijing with Lord Amherst and Sir Henry Ellis.
The embassy was unsuccessful - and suffered a serious ship-wreck on the return journey - and shortly afterwards Staunton decided to leave Canton permanently. and of the Narrative of the Chinese Embassy to the Khan of the Tourgouth Tartars (1821); Miscellaneous Notices Relating to China and our Commercial Intercourse with that Country (1822); Notes of Proceedings and Occurrences during the British Embassy to Peking (1824); Observations on our Chinese Commerce (1850). For the Hakluyt Society he edited Juan González de Mendoza's History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China.