Roger Casement had served a long and distinguished career in the British Foreign Service which he joined in 1882 and retired from due to ill health in 1912. During his career with the Foreign Office he became British Consul for Mozambique (1895-98), Angola (1898-1900), Congo (1901-04) and Brazil (1906-11). He also gained international recognition with his work for the British Foreign Office by highlighting exploitation of labour in the ‘Congo Free State’ by King Leopold of Belgium, the subsequent paper he published on the subject led to a restructuring of their rule in the Congo. Similar work with the Putamayo Indians in Peru led to him receiving a Knighthood in 1911. How he came to be tried and hung for treason surrounds his involvement with the Irish Volunteers which he had joined shortly after his retirement in 1912 - this led to him becoming involved with German officials and the events leading up to the 1916 Easter Uprising in Dublin.