Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell
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The Right Honourable James Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell (9 November, 1858– 26 July, 1941), known as Sir Rennell Rodd before 1933, was a British diplomat and ambassador in to Italy during World War I, where he played a key role in securing Italy's adhesion to the Entente cause. He was also a published poet and politician.
Rodd was the son of Major James Rennell Rodd (1812 - 1892) and his wife Elizabeth Thomson, daughter of Anthony Todd Thomson. He entered the Diplomatic Service in 1883 and was Minister to Sweden from 1904 to 1908. He then became Ambassador in Rome until 1919. He served on the mission to Egypt in 1920 with Lord Milner and was UK delegate to the League of Nations in 1921 and 1923.
In 1928, Rodd was elected as Unionist Member of Parliament for St. Marylebone, resigning in 1932. He was elevated to the peerage as Baron Rennell in 1933.
He married Lilias Georgina Guthrie in 1894 and had six children. He was succeeded by his son, Sir Francis James Rennell Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell.
His youngest son, Peter, married Nancy Mitford, daughter of the 2nd Baron Redesdale and one of the Mitford sisters. His daughter Gloria Rodd married the painter Simon Elwes.
External links
- Social and Diplomatic Memories of James Rennell Rodd