James Alexander Rentoul (1854 – 12 August 1919) was an Irish-born British judge and politician.‘RENTOUL, His Honour James Alexander’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 10 June 2013
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Life

Early life

James Alexander Rentoul was born in

Manorcunningham Manorcunningham, or Manor (, meaning "the manor of Fort Cownyngham") is a small village and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located 7 kilometers from Letterkenny on the main road to Derry. It is known locally and throughout Donegal as ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, the eldest son of Reverend Alexander Rentoul. He was educated at

Queen's College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

Queen's College, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, and the Universities of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Career

He was a Presbyterian minister for a number of years before being called to the bar in 1884.'Death Of Judge Rentoul. His Career And His Critics', ''The Times'', 14 August 1919 The novelist

Erminda Rentoul Esler Erminda Rentoul Esler (1852? – 1924) was an Irish novelist who wrote romances and fiction expressing Presbyterian moral values. She was well known in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for her novels and short stories, and was published ...

was his sister. He was a member of

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

before being elected

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament for East Down at a by-election in 1890. Rentoul was a strong opponent of the Irish language; at Westminster in July 1900 he stated that the Irish language had no value and should not receive any support by the public education system, he stated that Irish-speaking children should be taught exclusively through English and expressed a desire for the Irish language to become extinct. Retrieved on 7 April 2018. He remained as member for the constituency until was appointed a Judge of the City of London Court and the Central Criminal Court in November 1901.

Asssessments and death

According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', Judge Rentoul was 'patient and kind in the performance of his duties, but it would be useless to pretend that he was a success on the Bench'. On a number of occasions his decisions were severely criticised by the Court of Criminal Appeal, one being described as 'unusual and extraordinary'. He resigned shortly before his death. He was described as a 'kindly and loving man' and a brilliant

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

. In '' Who's Who'', he listed his only recreation as 'Reading Who's Who'. He was Vice President of Listooder Ploughing Society in the 1900s. He died in London in 1919. His son,

Gervais Rentoul Sir Gervais Squire Chittick Rentoul KC (1 August 1884 – 7 March 1946) was a British Conservative politician. He was the eldest son of Judge James Alexander Rentoul, M.P. for East Down 1890–1902, and his wife, Florence Isabella Young. Jame ...

, became Member of Parliament for Lowestoft.

Endnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rentoul, James Alexander 1854 births 1919 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Down constituencies (1801–1922) Irish Conservative Party MPs Irish Unionist Party MPs UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906