George Rennie

Cupid kindling the torch of Hymen, (1831)
George Rennie (1802–1860)

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 was born in 1802, most likely in Haddingtonshire, now East Lothian . His father was also called George Rennie. The family lived in Haddingtonshire, the neighboring county of Edinburgh , for two generations . 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 was also shown in three different exhibitions at the Suffolk Street Gallery in London.

In 1841 Rennie became Member of Parliament for Ipswich , Suffolk . Despite his progressive attitude, he was politically assigned to the liberal camp. He kept his seat until 1847, although he had only appeared in parliament four times. He gave his first speech on August 27, 1841 on the Corn Laws . As the son of a farmer, very familiar with the matter, he called for more efficiency and technological change in agriculture, for the benefit of the landowners (to secure their income) and for the benefit of the poor part of the population (to be able to buy cheaper grain).

Not satisfied by the effect of his political commitment, Rennie turned to the subject of colonization . On July 28, 1842, in a letter from the New Zealand Company, he made a proposal to campaign for a fourth colony. The letter was published under the headline "A New British Settlement" on August 17, 1842 in The Colonial Gazette . His concern was that due to poverty in Great Britain there might soon be an "empty stomachs rebellion". In order to maintain social peace and secure the institution of the kingdom, he proposed a solution to systematically colonizing unemployed and destitute people in an uninhabited country and giving them bread and work there. He campaigned for the New Zealand Company to take over the colonization of New Zealand , as the British government showed no interest in colonization.

In 1843, Rennie met William Cargill , head of the Otago settlement project and later founder of New Edinburgh ( Dunedin ). With the financial support of Captain Wentworth P. Croke , the two worked together and later brought on Thomas Burns , co-founder of New Edinburgh, and Charles Henry Kettle , a surveyor and planner. In January 1844, Rennie publicly announced that 40 families with around 200 people were ready to go on an expedition in the spring. But differences of opinion between Rennie and the other parties involved hampered further planning. In 1845, Rennie finally gave up after Cargill and Burns were against him and he had no support on the board of the New Zealand Company. An open letter he wrote on October 22, 1845 then led to a public debate, which did not exactly strengthen him.

On December 15, 1847, George Rennie became the second governor of the British Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina . He returned to England in 1855 and died in London on March 22, 1860 after four years of serious illness.

Works

The Dictionary of National Biography names 8 of his works as the most important:

• 1828 "A Gleaner".
• 1828 "Grecian Archer".
• 1831 "Cupid kindling the torch of Hymen".
• 1831 (bust of Thorwalden).
• 1833 "The Archer".
• 1833 (bust of Sir David Wilkie).
• 1834 "The Minstrel".
• 1837 (a group of 4 figures in marble).

literature

• Angela Susan Reid : Envisaging a New Edinburgh, George Rennie and the Otago Settlement . University of Otago , Dunedin 2003 (English, dissertation).
• Campbell Dodgson : Rennie, George (1802-1860) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press , Oxford 2004 (English).

Web links

• Important people in the Falkland Islands