Rowland Sperling

Sir Rowland Arthur Charles Sperling KCMG CB (4 January 1874 –1 August 1965) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Switzerland, Bulgaria, and Finland.

Sir Rowland Sperling KCMG CB
British Ambassador to Finland
In office 1930–1935
Preceded by	Sir Ernest Rennie
Succeeded by	Herbert Grant Watson
British Ambassador to Bulgaria
In office 1928–1929
Preceded by	Sir William Erskine
Succeeded by	Sir Sydney Waterlow
British Ambassador to Switzerland
In office 1924–1928
Preceded by	Sir Milne Cheetham
Succeeded by	Sir Claud Russell
Personal details
Born	Rowland Arthur Charles Sperling (1874-01-04)4 January 1874 London, England
Died	1 August 1965(1965-08-01) (aged 91) Mere, Wiltshire, England
Spouse	Dorothy Constance Kingsmill ​ ​ (m. 1905; died 1951)​
Children	3
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	New College, Oxford

Early life

Sperling was born in London in 1874, the son of Commander Rowland Money Sperling of the Royal Navy, and Marian Charlotte Keyser, daughter of stockbroker Charles Keyser. He was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford.^[1] He left Oxford in 1899 without a degree, and went to work as a clerk in the Foreign Office.^[1]

Diplomat

He was sent to Russia in 1902 to learn Russian, before joining the Diplomatic Service, becoming acting third secretary in St Petersburg. He returned to the Foreign Office in 1905 first as an assistant clerk, then as a senior clerk, and in 1914, as Head of the Western Department.^[1] He stayed in the Foreign Office during the First World War. He was an attaché at the Paris Peace Conference, and was made Assistant Secretary at the Foreign Office in 1919.^[2] 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 Bern, serving as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Switzerland from 1924 to 1928.^[2][1][3] In 1928 he was appointed Minister to the Kingdom of Bulgaria in Sofia from 1928 to 1929, and then to Finland from 1930 to 35.^[1][4] He retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1935.^[1]

Family life

In 1905, Sperling married Dorothy Constance Kingsmill (1874–1951), daughter of William Howley Kingsmill DL JP (1838–1894) of Sydmonton Court, Sydmonton, and Constance Mary Portal (died 1947), daughter of Sir Wyndham Spencer Portal, 1st Bt. They had two sons and a daughter.^[1] One son was killed in active service in a flying accident at Manston Airport in March 1940.^[1] His wife died in 1951.^[1]

Following retirement to Kingsclere, Hampshire, he was a member of Hampshire County Council from 1936 to 1949, and High Sheriff of Hampshire from 1945 to 1946.^[1] Sperling died on 8 January 1965 at his home in Wiltshire aged 91.^[1]

Honours and awards

• In the 1921 Birthday Honours he was invested as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG);
• On 3 June 1924 he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath;
• In the 1934 New Year Honours, Sperling was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).^{[citation needed]}