Sir
John Shaw Rennie
GCMG OBE
1st Governor-General of Mauritius
In office
12 March 1968 – 3 September 1968
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterSeewoosagur Ramgoolam
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMichel Rivalland (acting)
7th Resident Commissioner of the New Hebrides
In office
1955–1962
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded byHubert Flaxman
Succeeded byAlexander Mair Wilkie
Personal details
Born(1917-01-12)12 January 1917
Glasgow, Scotland
Died12 August 2002(2002-08-12) (aged 85)[1]

Sir John Shaw Rennie GCMG OBE (12 January 1917 – 12 August 2002) was a British civil servant and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's Commissioner-General from 1971 to 1977.[2]

Early life

John Rennie was born in Glasgow and educated at Hillhead High School, Glasgow University and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1951 Rennie was appointed Britain's deputy colonial secretary for Mauritius.[3] He was the British Resident in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1955 to 1962.[4]

From 1962 to 1968, he was Governor of Mauritius, overseeing Mauritius' transition to independence, including initiating discussions with Dr. Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, the Mauritian premier, over the detachment of the Chagos Islands from Mauritian territory.[5]

From 1968 to 1971, Rennie was UNRWA deputy Commissioner-General under Laurence Michelmore, who persuaded then-U.N. Secretary-General U Thant to appoint Rennie as his successor.[6]

References

  1. ^ Sir John Rennie, The Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2002
  2. ^ Benjamin N. Schiff, Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 293.
  3. ^ RENNIE, Sir John Shaw, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2010
  4. ^ "Vanuatu". Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  5. ^ Sands, Philippe (2022), The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain's Colonial Legacy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, pp. 41-42; ISBN 978-1-4746-1812-0
  6. ^ Around the World Archived 22 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 3 October 2002
Government offices Preceded byHubert Flaxman British Resident Commissioner of the New Hebrides 1955–1962 Succeeded byAlexander Mair Wilkie Preceded byColville Deverell Governor of Mauritius 1962–1968 Succeeded byPosition abolished - Himself as first Governor-General of Mauritius Preceded byPosition established - Himself as last Governor of Mauritius Governor-General of Mauritius 1968 Succeeded byMichel Rivalland Acting Positions in intergovernmental organisations Preceded byLaurence Michelmore () Commissioner-General for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East April 1971–1977 Succeeded byThomas McElhiney ()
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