Sir Howard William Kennard
GCMG
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
,
CVO (23 March 1878 – 12 November 1955) was a British diplomat.
Early life
Kennard was born on 23 March 1878 in
Brighton, the son of Arthur Challis Kennard and Anne Homan Mulock, and educated at
Wixenford School
Wixenford School, also known as Wixenford Preparatory School and Wixenford-Eversley, was an independent preparatory school for boys near Wokingham, founded in 1869. A feeder school for Eton, after it closed in 1934 its former buildings were ...
and
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
.
[Bewley 1905, pp. 25-26]
In Poland
He was a British Chargé d'affaires, and subsequently Ambassador to Poland until 1939. Despite being pro-Polish, he nevertheless urged Poland to negotiate moderation with Germany. During the Czechoslovak Crisis, he briefed
Viscount Halifax
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
on 10 September 1938 by pointing out that "the Poles, especially the ruling classes, do not feel the same horror of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
as is felt in democratic countries... among the peasants there is a dislike of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
which counterbalances the disgust with which other countries regard the manifestations of German
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
" and that there was a great dislike by Poland towards the Czechs. He made it clear to London, which was then in negotiations with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
for a defensive alliance, that Russia was "violently disliked and distrusted in Poland" and that any kind of transit on land or by air to Czecho-Slovakia over Polish territory would be resisted by force of arms.
In March the following year, he gave his support to the Anglo-Polish defensive guarantee, which ultimately drew England into the war. He became ambassador to the
Polish government-in-exile
The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
until 1941.
and was also ambassador to
Switzerland and the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
.
References
Bibliography
*''The Story of Mulock: The Pedigree of the Mulock Family of Ireland'' by Sir Edmund Thomas Bewley (Ponsonby & Gibbs, 1905)
*''By Virtue & Faith: A History of the Mulock & Mullock Families'' by Robert Hughes-Mullock FRAS (2012)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, Howard William
1878 births
1955 deaths
Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Switzerland
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia
People educated at Eton College
People educated at Wixenford School