Sir Rowland Arthur Charles Sperling KCMG CB (1874–1965) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Finland, Bulgaria, and Switzerland.

Early life

Sperling was born in 1874 in London, England the son of Commander Rowland Money Sperling (1841–), RN, and Marian Charlotte, daughter of Charles Keyser. He was educated at Eton College and New College Oxford in 1892. He left New College in 1899 without a degree and went to work as a clerk in the Foreign Office.

Diplomat

He was sent to Russia in 1902 to learn Russian before becoming acting third secretary in St Petersburg in the Diplomatic Service. He returned to the Foreign Office in 1905 first as an assistant clerk, then a senior clerk and in 1914 Head of the Western Department. He stayed in the Foreign Office during the first world war and was an attached to the Paris Peace Conference : assistant secretary Foreign Office 1919.Kelly's Handbook, 1938. In 1920, he represented the United Kingdom at a conference on international communications in Washington. By 1924 he was transferred to the Diplomatic Service and he was appointed Minister at Berne, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Switzerland 1924–28. In 1928 he moved as Minister to Sofia, Bulgaria 1928–9, and then to Finland 1930–35.C. Cook, P. Jones, J. Sinclair, Jeffrey Weeks, Sources in British Political History, 1900–1951
p. 228
Ray Jones, The nineteenth-century Foreign Office: an administrative history, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1971 – 224 pp.
p. 183
/ref> He retired from the service in 1935.

Family life

In 1905, Sperling married Dorothy Constance Kingsmill (1874–1951), daughter of William Howley Kingsmill (1838–1894), DL, JP, of

Sydmonton Court Sydmonton Court is an English country house in Hampshire. Built and developed over the centuries, it is surrounded by a 5,000 acre estate, in the parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green, near Watership Down. The house has been listed ...

Sydmonton Sydmonton is a small village and estate in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Newbury, which lies approximately north-west from the village. Governance The village is now part of the civil parish of ...

, and Constance Mary(died 1947), daughter of Sir Wyndham Spencer Portal, 1st Bt. They had two sons and a daughter. One son was killed on active service in a flying accident at

Manston Airport Manston Airport was a British airport. It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and was located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, north-east ...

in March 1940. His wife died in 1951. Following retirement to

Kingsclere Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Geography Kingsclere is approximately equidistant ) from the towns of Basingstoke and Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury on the A339 road. History Kingsclere can trace back ...

, Hampshire, he was a member of

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

from 1936 to 1949, and

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

from 1945 to 1946. Sperling died on 8 January 1965 at his home in Wiltshire aged 91.

Honours and awards

*In the

1921 Birthday Honours The 1921 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the King, and were ...

he was invested as a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

(CMG); *On he was invested as a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

; *In the

1934 New Year Honours The 1934 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 29 December 1933. The recipients of honour ...

, Sperling was invested as a Knight Commander of the

(KCMG).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperling, Rowland Arthur Charles 1874 births 1965 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Switzerland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Finland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Bulgaria Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Alumni of New College, Oxford High Sheriffs of Hampshire People educated at Eton College Burials in Hampshire People from Kingsclere