Richard Rennie

Sir Richard Rennie, Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan

Sir Richard Temple Rennie (1839 – 14 April 1905) was a British barrister and judge who served in China and Japan. He was the Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan from 1881 to 1891. He was judge of the British Court for Japan from its creation in 1879 to 1881.

Early life

Rennie was the fourth son of George Rennie who had been a member of parliament and a sculptor. His great uncle was John Rennie, a famous Scot’s engineer who, amongst other things, designed the new London Bridge.

Rennie was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in 1860, having qualified by immediately commencing a pupilage after leaving school. He and practiced on the Western Circuit before moving to Hong Kong, where his brother, William Hepburn Rennie, was serving as Auditor-General.[1] He then moved to Shanghai to practice before the British Supreme Court for China and Japan.

Judicial Career

Rennie was appointed Judge of the British Court for Japan in Yokohama on the creation of that court in 1879 and served until 1881. In that year, he was appointed Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan in Shanghai, replacing George French who had died that year. Rennie was knighted on November 30, 1882.[2]

Retirement and Death

Rennie retired in 1891. Rennie's successor as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was Nicholas John Hannen, then judge of the British Court for Japan who had also succeeded Rennie in that position.

In 1895 he stood as a candidate for County Council in the Kensington Division. In 1896, Rennie was appointed by a special Order in Council Acting Judge of the British Supreme Consular Court in Constantinople to hear two cases. The first related to alleged improper conduct by the Vice-Consul, Mr Phillip Sarell, in obtaining a loan from the Constantinople Building Society. The second was a civil claim brought by Henry Silley, the former chief clerk of the Supreme Consular Court, against Sarell, Charles Tarring, the Judge of the Supreme Consular Court.[3]

Rennie, who at the time lived at 115 Piccadilly in London, died in at Sidmouth in Devon on 14 April 1905.[4]

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ North China Herald, April 3, 1891, p408-9
  2. ↑ London Gazette, 8 December 1882, p6250
  3. ↑ House of Commons Debate, January 26. 1897 (p.501). Daily Mail, 5 April 1897, p5
  4. ↑ North China Herald, May 5, 1905, p222; London Gazette, June 30, 1905, p4577
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