George William Rendel

Who was George William Rendel?

Sir George William Rendel was a British diplomat.

Rendel, the son of the engineer George Wightwick Rendel was educated at Downside School and at Queen's College, Oxford, graduating in Modern History in 1911.

He then entered the Diplomatic Service. He was head of the Eastern Department of the Foreign Office, 1930-1938. In 1937 he and his wife Geraldine crossed Arabia. His wife, Geraldine, was the first European woman to be received for dinner at the royal palace in Riyadh.

Rendel said of Riyadh:

:"...it was a revelation to me of how fine in line and proportion modern Arabian architecture can be."

He had two daughters, Ann and Rosemary.

In 1941, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a post held until 1943. He was knighted in the latter year and served as Ambassador to Belgium between 1947-1950.

Whilst Rendel was His Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Bulgaria, The United Kingdom broke off diplomatic relations as the country was now under the control of the Nazis. It fell to Rendel to take his staff of 50 by train to Istanbul, in Turkey.