John Shaw Rennie

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

Biography

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. He was the British Resident in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1955 to 1962.

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

From 1968 to 1971, Rennie was UNRWA deputy commissioner-general under Laurence Michelmore, who persuaded the then UN secretary-general U Thant to appoint Rennie as his successor.

Rennie married Winifred McAlpine Robertson on 26 February 1946. The couple had one son.

Honour

Rennie was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1955 New Year Honours, and a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1958 New Year Honours. He was promoted to Knight Commander (KCMG) in 1962, while Governor-designate of Mauritius, and then to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in 1968, while he was Governor General designate.