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Archive of Sir Horace George Montagu Rumbold, 9th Baronet

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Papers of Sir Horace Rumbold, 9th Baronet, 1876-1944, comprising journals, 1890-1913; general correspondence and papers, 1876-1941; and miscellaneous correspondence and papers, 1909-1944. Also includes correspondence of his father, Sir Horace Rumbold, 8th Baronet, 1877-1905.

Dates

  • Creation: 1876-1944

Extent

5.5 Linear metres (50 physical shelfmarks)

Language of Materials

  • English

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. Oxford, Bodleian Libraries MS. Rumbold dep. 1, fols. 1-2].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS. Rumbold dep. 1-50

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 15204

Abstract

Papers of Sir Horace George Montagu Rumbold (1869-1941), 9th Baronet, 1876-1944, including correspondence of his father, Sir Horace Rumbold, 8th Baronet, 1877-1905.

Biographical / Historical

Sir Horace George Montagu Rumbold (1869-1941) the eldest son of Sir Horace Rumbold, diplomat, was educated at Hawtrey's and Eton. In 1888 he was appointed honorary attaché in the diplomatic service at the British Legation in The Hague, and in 1891 he was placed first in a competitive examination for entry into the diplomatic service. After a year working in the Eastern Department of the Foreign Office, he was posted to Cairo in 1892, serving under Sir Evelyn Baring, later Lord Cromer, and he became third secretary in the following year. He was posted to Tehran in 1895, promoted to second secretary in 1896, and posted to Vienna in 1897, where his father was Ambassador. He returned to Cairo for seven years in 1900 and was posted to Madrid in 1907, after promotion to first secretary in 1904. From 1909-1913 he was counsellor of embassy in Tokyo.

From Tokyo he moved to Berlin, serving under Sir Edward Goschen. He described his first hand experience of Germany in the period immediately preceding the First World War in his book, The War Crisis in Berlin July - August 1914 (London, 1940). After leaving Berlin on the declaration of war, he worked in the Foreign Office for two years, for most of which period he was head of the Prisoner's Department. His first major post was as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Berne, from 1916-1919, followed by a similar post at Warsaw, 1919-1920.

In 1920, Sir Horace was appointed British High Commissioner and Ambassador to Constantinople, where he was in charge during the Charnak crisis of 1922. He served as deputy to Lord Curzon at the First Lausanne Conference, November 1922 - February 1923, and was the chief British delegate at the Second Lausanne Conference, when he signed The Peace Treaty with Turkey on 24 July 1923.

After Constantinople he went to Madrid as Ambassador in 1924, and four years later to Berlin where he was Ambassador during the critical years of Hitler's rise to power. He resigned from the diplomatic service in 1933.

In 1936 he went to Palestine as vice-president of the Royal Commission enquiring into rival Jewish and Arab claims to Palestine. After the outbreak of war, he served for a time in the Ministry of Economic Warfare. He died on 24 May 1941.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers were deposited in the Bodleian Library in 1973.

Title
Catalogue of the archive of Sir Horace George Montagu Rumbold, 9th Baronet, 1876-1944
Status
Published
Author
P. J. Roscoe
Date
1978; revised 2011
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Conversion to EAD supported by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom