Sir Donald Hawley (22 May 1921 – 31 January 2008) was a British colonial lawyer, diplomat and writer.

Career

Donald Frederick Hawley was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, about to go to university, he volunteered for the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry but was told to continue to university: he went to New College, Oxford where he took a four-term wartime degree in law. In 1941, he joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

"without Army pay and allowances whilst specially employed" because he was with Sudanese troops in North Africa. In 1944, he joined the

Sudan Political Service Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...

, then the Sudan Judiciary in 1947. In 1951, he was formally called to the bar in England. He continued as Chief Registrar of the Sudan Judiciary and Registrar-General of Marriages until 1955 when he resigned from the Sudan service and joined the

British Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which ...

. After two years in the Foreign Office he was posted as Political Agent to the

Trucial States The Trucial States ( '), also known as the Trucial Coast ( '), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( '), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had s ...

, based in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, 1958–62, then to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

1962–65 and

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

1965–67. He then took a sabbatical break as a fellow of Durham University, which was cut short due to the resumption of relations with

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

after a break following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

. Hawley was Counsellor (Commercial) at

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

(second to the ambassador) 1968–71, then the first British ambassador to

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

1971–75, assistant

Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1975–77, and High Commissioner to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

1977–81. He then retired from the Diplomatic Service and continued as a consultant and other activities including founder membership of the Anglo-Omani Society and the British Malaysian Society, President of the Council of

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

1987–94 and chairman of the

Royal Society for Asian Affairs The Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA) is a learned society based in London (United Kingdom). Its objective is to advance public knowledge and understanding of Asia through its worldwide networks, its public events, its publications and its s ...

1994–2002.

Honours

Hawley was appointed MBE in 1955, CMG in 1970, and knighted KCMG in 1978. He was awarded an honorary

DLitt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degree by Reading University and an honorary DCL by Durham University.

Family

In 1964, Donald Hawley married Ruth Howes; the couple had a son and three daughters, one of whom is the journalist Caroline Hawley. In retirement Sir Donald and Lady Hawley lived at Little Cheverell, Wiltshire, and he wrote a history of the village. Lady Hawley was appointed

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

for the year 1998 and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1999.''London Gazette'', 19 November 1999
page 12350
(Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Wiltshire on 9 November 1999)

Publications

*''Judges' robes in the Sudan'', Faculty of Law, University of Khartoum, 1959 *''Courtesies in the Trucial States'', Khayats, Beirut, 1965 *''The Trucial States'', Allen & Unwin, London, 1970. *''Oman and its renaissance'', Stacey, London, 1977. *''Manners and correct form in the Middle East'', Debrett's Peerage, 1984. *''Sandtracks in the Sudan'', Michael Russell, 1995. *''Courtesies in the Gulf area : a dictionary of colloquial phrase and usage'', Stacey, London, 1998. *''Sudan Canterbury tales'', Michael Russell, 1999. *''Desert wind and tropic storm : an autobiography'', Michael Russell, 2000. *''The Emirates : witness to a metamorphosis'', Michael Russell, 2007. *''Little Cheverell : the history of a Wiltshire village'', Michael Russell, 2007.

References

HAWLEY, Sir Donald (Frederick)
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)

(obituary), ''The Telegraph'', London, 11 February 2008

''The Independent'', London, 3 March 2008
Sir Donald Hawley: Diplomat who served in Sudan, the Middle East and Malaysia and wrote well about Arab matters
''The Times'', London, 15 February 2008

External links

*
Interview with Sir Donald Hawley
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge
Catalogue of the papers of Sir Donald Hawley KCMG, MBE
Durham University
Donald Frederick HAWLEY
Soldiers of Oxfordshire {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawley, Donald Frederick 1921 births 2008 deaths People educated at Radley College Alumni of New College, Oxford Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II Sudan Political Service officers Academics of Durham University Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Oman High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Malaysia People associated with the University of Reading British writers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Order of the British Empire Anglo-Egyptian Sudan judges British expatriates in the United Arab Emirates British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in Nigeria