Gervais Rentoul

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Sir Richard Gervais Squire Chittick Rentoul K.C.,M.A. (August 1, 1884 - March 7, 1946), commonly known as Gervais Rentoul, was a British Conservative politician.

He was the eldest son of Judge James Alexander Rentoul K.C., LL.D,(1854-1919), M.P. for East Down 1890-1902, and Florence I. Young (1860-1914). The family claimed to be descended from King Henry VII. ^[1]

While at Oxford he was active in the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS). Among the stage roles he played was Angelo in Measure for Measure^[2] and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, a production including the professional actresses Lily Brayton as Katherine and her sister Agnes as Bianca ^[3]. After leaving Oxford he acted with the Old Stagers.

In 1912 he married Christian Muriel Smart (b.1884); they had one daughter, Sylvia (b.1916) ^[4] who married Ferenc Gallo^[5].

He became a barrister and took silk in 1930, becoming Recorder of Sandwich.

He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Lowestoft in 1922. He was founding chairman of the 1922 Committee (1923-1932) and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney-General (1925-1929). He was knighted in 1929 and retired from Parliament in 1934.

In 1924 he was Master of the Guild of Freemen of the City of London. ^[6]

He wrote several books including -

Sometimes I Think (Hodder & Stoughton, 1940)
This is My Case An Autobiography (Hutchinson, 1944)

He was portrayed on television by Robin Sachs in the play The Root of all Evil (1981) ^[7], a dramatisation of the Seddon murder case in 1912 in which Rentoul had appeared for the defence.