File NLW MS 1336D - The political work of Lord Rendel

Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel (1834-1913), was an industrialist and politician. He was born in Plymouth, Devon, the son of James Meadows Rendel (1799-1856), a civil engineer, and Catherine Jane Rendel (née Harris, 1797-1884). He went to Eton, and graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1856. Despite being called to the Bar, he eventually became the manager of the Sir William Armstrong & Co. gunnery company, being vice-chairman of the company by the time of his death. The links he formed with foreign governments in this capacity became useful when he was involved in peace negotiations between China and France in 1885. In 1880 he was elected the Liberal Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, becoming the chairman of the 'Welsh Parliamentary Party', 1888-1894. He was heavily involved with the Welsh Intermediate Education Act, 1889, and with proposals for the disestablishment of the church in Wales. He was a close friend of W. E. Gladstone, and following Gladstone's resignation in 1894 he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Rendel. He was president of University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1895-1913, contributing £1000 a year to the College. He also donated land in Aberystwyth to serve as the site for the National Library of Wales, in 1897. In 1857 he married Ellen Sophy Hubbard (died 1912), and they had four daughters. He died on 4 June 1913 in London. George Wightwick Rendel (1833-1902), Lord Rendel's elder brother, was a civil engineer. A partner in William Armstrong & Co., he directed the ordnance works at Elswick for 24 years and designed warships. He was Civil Lord of the Admiralty, 1882-1887. He married twice and had nine children, including Sir George William Rendel. He died at Sandown, Isle of Wight, on 9 October 1902. Sir George William Rendel (1889-1979) was a diplomat. He was educated at Downside and at Queen's College Oxford, graduating in Modern History in 1911. He then entered the Diplomatic Service, serving in various European capitals. Amongst other positions he was head of the Eastern Department of the Foreign Office, 1930-1938, Ambassador to the Yugoslav Government in London, 1941-1943, and British Ambassador to Belgium, 1947-1950. He represented the United Kingdom on various committees of the United Nations. Although he retired in 1950, he was employed by the Foreign Office in various capacities, 1950-1964. In 1937, he crossed Arabia, travelling with his wife Geraldine (1884-1965). He wrote a volume of memoirs, The Sword and the Olive (1957). His daughter was Miss Rosemary Rendel. He was knighted in 1943 and died 6 May 1979. Lord Rendel's eldest daughter Rose Ellen married Professor H. C. Goodhart (died 1895) and they had one son, Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel (1887-1959), an architect and musician. He inherited the bulk of Lord Rendel's estate in 1913, and died, unmarried, in 1959.