Gervais Rentoul

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. [ [http://www.chittick.com/history/erminda/letter_fromjames.html Chittick Family descent from Henry VII] ]

While at Oxford he was active in the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS). Among the stage roles he played was Angelo [Times review February 23rd 1906] in "Measure for Measure" (1906) ["This is My Case"] and Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew" (1907), a production including the professional actresses Lily Brayton as Katherine and her sister Agnes as Bianca [Times review February 7th 1907] . After leaving Oxford he acted with the Old Stagers along with fellow barrister and OUDS alumni C.W.Mercer, who subsequently acted as his best man ["This is My Case"] .

In 1912 he married Christian Muriel Smart (b.1884); they had one daughter, Sylvia (b.1916) [Free BMD] who married Ferenc Gallo ["This is My Case"] .

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. [ [http://www.guild-freemen-london.co.uk/masters.php List of Past Masters] ]

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) [ [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/258806?view=cast The Root of All Evil at the BFI database] ] , a dramatisation of the Seddon murder case in 1912 in which Rentoul had appeared for the defence.

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