Athelstan Rendall was a Liberal Party, later politician in the United Kingdom.
Background
Rendall was the son of Henry Rendall Justice of the Peace of Bridport in Dorset. In 1897 he married Amy, daughter of J J Young Justice of the Peace of Northend, Portsmouth. Amy Rendall died in 1945 and Rendall was remarried in 1946 to Beatrice Sophia, the daughter of Captain A West Brooke-Smith RNR.
Education
He was educated at University College School.
Career
They had one daughter. After first working as a journalist, Rendall trained as a solicitor, passing the Law Society final examinations in January 1894 and practising at Yeovil. In 1918 Rendall had stood as a supporter of the Coalition government of David Lloyd George.
He was not opposed by the Conservatives, though he did defeat a National Party candidate, and had presumably been in receipt of the Coalition Coupon.
However, by 1920 he had fallen out with the Coalition, writing to his local Liberal Association to explain that he was dissatisfied by what he described as the government’s tremendous and unjustified commitment of British money and lives in Mesopotamia at the same time as their inability to end waste and extravagance at home. He went and sat on the opposition benches.
After Liberal reunion he retained his Thornbury seat standing as a Liberal at the 1923 general election, but was defeated again at the 1924 general election. He did not stand for Parliament again.
In Parliament, Rendall interested himself particularly in divorce reform and was responsible for introducing legislation under which a widow could marry her deceased husband’s brother.
He was also a committed supporter of Electoral reform and introduced a Proportional representation bill during the term of the first government. Rendall was, as indicated by his membership of the Fabian Society, always on the New Liberal wing of the party and identified himself as a Radical. In 1918, he joined a group of Left-wing Liberals, formed by Josiah Wedgwood.
The aim of the group was to formulate the best course to be adopted by those calling themselves ‘advanced radicals’ against the background of the formation of the Party.
The membership of the group included East Doctorate Morel, Charles Trevelyan and Arthur Ponsonby. While they were sympathetic to they never came to a collective decision about how to work best with it, whether to merge or simply co-operate.
lieutenant is interesting to note that Wedgwood, Morel, Trevelyan and Ponsonby all defected to in due course and in 1925, Rendall joined them.
Politics
In 1895, Rendall joined the Fabian Society but his political affiliation at this time was still Liberal, as reflected by his membership of the Cobden Club, and by 1905 he had been selected as a Liberal Parliamentary candidate.
Membership
28th United Kingdom Parliament. 29th United Kingdom Parliament. 30th United Kingdom Parliament.
31st United Kingdom Parliament.
33rd United Kingdom Parliament]
He was elected as Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for the Thornbury constituency in Gloucestershire at the 1906 general election, and held the seat until his defeat at the 1922 general election by the Conservative Party candidate Herbert Charles Woodcock. He also sat as a member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Debtors’ Imprisonment.
Personality
He was sympathetic to many of the aims of the Party.