John Hathorn Hall

British colonial administrator

Sir John Hathorn Hall GCMG DSO OBE MC (19 June 1894 – 17 June 1979) was a British colonial administrator.

During World War I, he served with the 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers and the 27th Infantry Brigade, rising to the rank of captain,^[1] and was awarded the Military Cross as well as the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He worked in the Ministry of Finance of the Egyptian Civil Service (Egypt then being a British protectorate) in 1919–1920. Subsequently he served in the Middle East Department of the Colonial Office and was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List of 1931.^[2]

In 1927, Hall married Torfrida Trevenen Mills.^[3] In 1933, he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government of Palestine (then a British Mandate under the League of Nations).^[4] On at least two occasions, in 1934 and in 1937, he served as Officer Administering the Government of Palestine during absences of the High Commissioner for Palestine.^[5]^[6]

His later service included the following posts:

British Resident in Zanzibar, October 1937 – 1940^[7]
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Aden, 24 October 1940 – 1 January 1945^[8]
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Uganda, 1 January 1945 – 17 January 1952^[9]

Sir John was awarded the GCMG in the New Year's Honours List of 1950.^[10] After retiring from the colonial service, Sir John became a director of several companies, including the P&O and British India steamship lines, and the Midland Bank. A portrait of Sir John by Walter Bird is now part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.^[11]

References

^ "Captain John Hathorn Hall". Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
^ "New Year Honours List 1931, departmental recommendations". The National Archives. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
^ "Life Story: John Hathorn Hall". Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
^ Gilbert, Martin. The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War, 1941, Volume 3, p. 795. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.
^ "Proclamation by the Officer Administering the Government of Palestine, 16th March 1934" (PDF). The Palestine Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
^ "Proclamation by the Officer Administering the Government of Palestine, 8th February, 1937" (PDF). The Palestine Gazette. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
^ "Tanzania", worldstatesmen.org, accessed 6 Feb. 2012
^ "Yemen", worldstatesmen.org, accessed 6 Feb. 2012
^ "Uganda", worldstatesmen.org, accessed 6 Feb. 2012
^ "No. 38797". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1949. pp. 4–5.
^ "Sir John Hathorn Hall", National Portrait Gallery, accessed 6 Feb. 2012