Diplomat. The younger brother of John Hookham Frere, he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1801 embarked on a diplomatic career. Frere was Secretary of Legation in the British Embassies to Portugal 1801–1802, Spain 1802–1805, 1808–1810 and Prussia 1805–1807. He then served as Secretary to the Embassy to the Ottoman Empire 1807–1808, 1811–1821, and it was in this capacity that Southey wrote to him, introducing Wade Browne (1796–1851), the son of his friend Wade Browne.