George Rennie (sculptor and politician)

George Rennie (* 1802 in East Lothian, Scotland, † March 22, 1860 in London, England), was a sculptor, politician and Governor of the Falkland Islands.

Life

George Rennie in 1802, most probably in Haddingtonshire, now East Lothian born. His father was also named George Rennie. The family lived for two generations in Haddingtonshire, the neighboring county of Edinburgh. George studied sculpture in London and Rome. Between 1828 and 1837 he exhibited his works at the Royal Academy of Arts. During this time his work has been shown in three different exhibitions at the Suffolk Street Gallery in London.

1841 Rennie Member of Parliament for Ipswich, Suffolk. Despite its progressive attitude, he was politically associated with the liberal camp. His seat he held until 1847, although he had appeared in the Parliament only four times. His first speech was delivered on August 27, 1841 the Corn Laws ( corn laws ). As the son of a farmer familiar with the matter, he called for more efficiency and technological change in agriculture, for the benefit of landowners (to secure their income ), and ( in order to buy cheaper cereals) for the benefit of the poor part of the population.

Not satisfied with the effectiveness of his political commitment to Rennie turned to the subject of colonization. On 28 July 1842 he made ​​in a letter to the New Zealand Company, a proposal to push for a fourth colony. The letter was published under the headline " A New British Settlement " on August 17, 1842 in the newspaper The Colonial Gazette. His concern was that due to the poverty in the UK there could be a " rebellion of empty stomachs " soon. In order to maintain social peace and to safeguard the institution of the kingdom, he suggested as a solution, with a systematic colonization of labor and people without means to convey in an uninhabited country, and to give them bread and work there. He was strongly in favor of the New Zealand Company, the colonization of New Zealand took over as the British government showed no interest in colonization.

1843 Rennie came together with William Cargill, head of the Otago settlement project and later founder of New Edinburgh ( Dunedin ). With the financial support of Captain Wentworth P. Croke both worked together and won later Thomas Burns added, co-founder of New Edinburgh, and Charles Henry Kettle, a surveyor and planner. In January 1844 Rennie announced publicly that 40 families were ready with about 200 people to go in the spring an expedition. But disagreements between Rennie and the other parties hindered the further planning. 1845 Rennie finally gave up after Cargill and Burns were against him and he had no support among the Board of the New Zealand Company. A written by him on October 22, 1845 open letter to then led in consequence to a public debate, which just could not strengthen it.

On December 15, 1847 George Rennie was the second governor of the off-shore Argentina British Falkland Islands. He came back to England in 1855 and died on 22 March 1860 in London after four years long illness.

Works

The Dictionary of National Biography appoints eight of his works as the most important ones:

Swell

All sources in English

• Angela Susan Reid, Envisaging a New Edinburgh, George Rennie and the Otago Settlement, PhD thesis, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2003.