Anthony Stanley Richard Rundle OBE (September 1913 – 17 September 1978) was a British politician and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

. Rundle was born in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and grew up bilingual in Welsh and English.Graham Lippiatt,
Liberals and Local Government in London since the 1970s
, ''Journal of Liberal History'', no.58, p.35 He was educated at the

Northampton School for Boys Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is a secondary school in Northampton, England. It was founded as Northampton Town and County Grammar School in 1541 by Thomas Chipsey, Mayor of Northampton. Years 7 to 11 are boys-only, while Sixth Form classes a ...

, the

Northampton Institute City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

, the

University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He claimed that, while in Milan, he had played the violin in an orchestra at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

. He completed two degrees, one in chemistry and the other in modern languages, and received a PhD in comparative linguistics. By the end of his life, was described being proficient in eighteen languages;Barbara Reynolds, "Dr Stanley Rundle", ''

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'' (fou ...

'', 3 October 1978 he personally claimed to have a working knowledge of thirty-three, although this was on the basis of an approach he promoted, regarding European languages as dialects of English and learning just one hundred facts of each. Rundle published ''Language as a Social and Political Factor'' in 1946. He became secretary of the Society of Linguists, and attempted to discover words in the communication of

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s at

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

. In 1948, he wrote to the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

to suggest that it update its Italian dictionary; the press took the project on, and Rundle assisted with the compilation of the new ''Cambridge Italian Dictionary''. By 1965, Rundle was described as a "consultant chemist". In his spare time, he designed a typewriter with 44 keys which could compose more than 3,000 characters in the Japanese language. Rundle joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and was elected to the council of the Municipal Borough of Richmond.David Blomfield, "Dr Stanley Rundle", ''

'', 6 October 1978 In 1964, this was replaced by

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital. Richmond upon Thames is ...

, and the party was wiped out. Rundle instead stood as the Liberal candidate for

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

at the

1964 United Kingdom general election The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on 15 October 1964, five years after the previous election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party, first led by Winston Churchill, had regained power. It resulted in the Conservatives, ...

, taking third place with 17.3% of the vote. At the

1966 United Kingdom general election The 1966 United Kingdom general election was held on 31 March 1966. The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson decided to call a snap election since his government, elected a m ...

, he was chosen as the candidate for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. A replacement for the popular

Manuela Sykes Audrey Manuela Penelope Heather Sykes (24 January 1925 – 19 September 2017) was a British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. Background and early life Born to Arthur Darrel Sykes and Baroness Manuela Ottilie Von Hunde ...

only three weeks before the election; as expected, the Liberal vote fell. Rundle targeted the Kew ward on Richmond Council from 1963, distributing the monthly ''Kew Comment'' bulletin. When a by-election occurred in 1966, he won the Liberal's first seat on the council. However, he was narrowly beaten in the 1968 Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council election, after a local residents' association put up rival candidates. Another by-election arose later that year, and Rundle won, becoming the only opposition councillor on the Conservative-dominated body. The Conservatives would meet in private to agree council business before holding a formal meeting with Rundle also present. In protest at this, Rundle organised his own pre-council meeting with local residents; over 400 turned up, attracting press attention. At the

1970 United Kingdom general election The 1970 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 18 June 1970. It resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, which defeated the governing Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The Liberal Party ...

, Rundle stood in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, taking third place, with 17.0% of the votes cast. He stood in the

seat at the

1973 Greater London Council election The fourth election to the Greater London Council was held on 12 April 1973. Labour won a large majority of 58 seats to 32 for the Conservatives; the Liberals also won their first two seats on the council. Electoral arrangements As there had b ...

and won, forming a new Liberal group on the council with Ruth Shaw. He stated that he believed he would win the Westminster seat in the forthcoming general election, but ultimately came a close second, on 35.6%. Following the election, he became seriously ill, and did not stand in the October 1974 general election.

Tim Razzall Edward Timothy Razzall, Lord Razzall, (born 12 June 1943) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and parliamentarian. Early life He was the son of Humphrey Razzall, a Liberal Party member who stood as Liberal Parliamentary Candidate for S ...

, ''Chance Encounters: Tales from a Varied Life'' Although never successful on the national stage, he led a revival of the Liberals on Richmond Council; by 1978, they held eighteen seats. He was appointed OBE in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginn ...

. Rundle visited China, meeting some political leaders, aiming to advance the cause of peace. Early in 1978, he was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for this work. Parents. Arthur Stanley Rundle, Ellen Rundle Siblings. Dora Rose Ellen Rundle, m. Hall Adrian, Barbara, Conrad, David, Edmund

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rundle, Stanley 1913 births 1978 deaths Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of the University of London Liberal Party (UK) councillors Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Members of the Greater London Council Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Northampton School for Boys