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. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

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, then the Sudan Judiciary in 1947. In 1951, he was formally

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

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. After two years in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

he was posted as Political Agent to the

Trucial States The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf (southeastern Arabia) whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truce ...

, based in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, 1958–62, then to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

1962–65 and

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

1965–67. He then took a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

break as a fellow of

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, which was cut short due to the resumption of relations with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

after a break following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. Hawley was Counsellor (Commercial) at

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

(second to the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

) 1968–71, then the first British ambassador to

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

1971–75, assistant

Under-Secretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

1975–77, and High Commissioner to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

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 1987–94 and chairman of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs 1994–2002.

Honours

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