Francis Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell

Rodd at his desk as the Staff Officer of the Allied Military Government in Sicily in 1943

Major General Francis James Rennell Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell KBE CB JP (25 October 1895 – 15 March 1978) was the second but eldest surviving son of the diplomat James Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell.

War Background

During the First World War he served in the artillery and, since he spoke four languages fluently, as an intelligence officer in France, Italy North Africa, Egypt, Libya, Palestine and Syria. Rodd would later make two great expeditions into the central Sahara (in 1922 and 1927) which provided him for the material of his book about the Tuareg, entitled People of the Veil.^[1] In 1939, Rodd was re-commissioned into the army and served as Chief of Civil Affairs, Staff Officer of the Allied Military Government in Sicily^[2] and as Major General, Civil Affairs Administration Middle East Command, East Africa Command, and Italy.^[3] After the war he joined the civil service.

Family

On the 3 August 1928, he married The Hon. Mary Constance Vivian Smith, daughter of Vivian Hugh Smith, 1st Baron Bicester. They had four daughters.

• Hon. Joanna Phoebe Rodd (1929-?) married Comte Gerard de Renusson d'Hauteville
• Hon. Juliet Honor Rodd (1930-?) married Brian Boobyer
• Hon. Mary Elizabeth Jill Rodd (1932-) married first Michael Dunne (1928-); married second Christopher Bridges Daniell.
• Hon. Rachel Georgiana Rodd (1935-?) married Richard Douglas Blythe.

Civil Service and Title

He was president of the Royal Geographic Society 1945-1948 and on the board of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) 1954-1965.^[4] On the death of his father on 26 July 1941 he gained the title of 2nd Baron Rennell and, as he had no sons, the barony passed to his nephew Tremayne Rodd, 3rd Baron Rennell on his death in 1978.

Bibliography

• General William Eaton;: The Failure of an Idea (Minton, Balch and company; First Edition (1932)
• People of the veil. Being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the Central Sahara, London, MacMillan & Co., 1926 (repr. Oosterhout, N.B., Anthropological Publications, 1966)
• British Military Administration of Occupied Territories in Africa during the Years 1941-1947, (Greenwood Press 30 Oct 1970)

Bibliography Reference

• Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War, Nick Smart. ISBN 1-84415-049-6.
• Debrett's Peerage

References

1. ^ http://www.travelbooks.co.uk/barnaby/articles/42.html
2. ^ Imperial War Museum
3. ^ http://www.generals.dk/general/Rennell_of_Rodd/Francis_James_Rennell_Rodd_Baron/Great_Britain.html
4. ^ http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/634229?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=55971977173

External links

• Obituary from The Geographical Journal

Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society 19th century Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich George Murray Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet William Richard Hamilton George Bellas Greenough Roderick Murchison Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester W. J. Hamilton William Henry Smyth Roderick Murchison Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere Frederick William Beechey Roderick Murchison Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton Roderick Murchison Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet Henry Bartle Frere Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet Rutherford Alcock Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne Richard Strachey Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff Sir Clements Robert Markham 20th century George Taubman Goldie Leonard Darwin George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston Douglas Freshfield Thomas Holdich Francis Younghusband Lawrence Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay David George Hogarth Charles Close William Goodenough Percy Zachariah Cox Henry Balfour Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode George Clark Francis Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell Harry Lindsay James Wordie James Marshall-Cornwall Roger Nathan, 2nd Baron Nathan Raymond Priestley Dudley Stamp Gilbert Laithwaite Edmund Irving Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton Duncan Cumming John Hunt, Baron Hunt Michael Wise Vivian Fuchs George Bishop Roger Chorley, 2nd Baron Chorley Crispin Tickell George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne 21st century Ronald Urwick Cooke Neil Cossons Gordon Conway Michael Palin Judith Rees