Sir Robert Harry Drayton (14 April 1892 – 20 February 1963), was a lawyer and a senior colonial civil servant who worked in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, Tanganyika,

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, Jamaica and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He served as the

Chief Secretary of Ceylon The chief secretary of Ceylon, was the chairman and one of three officers of state of the Board of Ministers of the State Council of Ceylon from 1932 to 1947. The post succeeded that of ''Colonial Secretary'' which was one of six offices that hel ...

from 1942 to 1947 and as the Legal Secretary of Ceylon. Robert Harry Drayton was born 14 April 1892 in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, the oldest son of Harry Godwin Drayton (1865–1927), a bookseller, and Emma Rose Hetty née Brealy (1866–1926). Drayton was educated at Exeter School before being

articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulate ...

to Roberts and Andrew, of Exeter. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he enlisted in the

Public Schools Battalions The Public Schools Battalions were a group of Pals battalions of the British Army during World War I. They were raised in 1914 as part of Kitchener's Army and were originally recruited exclusively from former public schoolboys. When the battalions ...

, serving as a sergeant, and was appointed as a lieutenant in the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

, fighting in France from January 1916 to September 1917. After graduating from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

with a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

, he qualified as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

in 1919, joining the Treasurer Solicitor's Department. On 16 October 1920 he married Gertrude Edith Phillips (1886–1967), an Australian who had seen war service as a theatre nursing sister with ANZAC forces in Gallipoli, at Christ Church,

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. They had a son and two daughters: Denys (1923–2012), a major in the

British India Army The Indian Army was the force of British India, until national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and the princely states, which could also have ...

(

7th Gurkha Rifles The 7th Gurkha Rifles was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army, following India's independence in 1947 and after 1959 designated as the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles. History F ...

), Aide-de-camp to the

British High Commissioner in Malaya In 1896, the post of High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States was created; the High Commissioner represented the British Government in the Federated Malay States, a federation of four British protected states in Malaya. The High Commissi ...

, Sir

Henry Gurney Sir Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney (27 June 1898 – 6 October 1951) was a British colonial administrator who served in various posts throughout the British Empire. Gurney was killed by communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency, whil ...

and Superintendent of the

Uganda Police Force The Uganda Police Force is the national police force of Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democ ...

; Dianne (1928–2015), a senior administrative assistant at

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

and the founding secretary of the Reuter Society; and Ruth. Drayton joined the

Colonial Legal Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

and was appointed the assistant legal secretary in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1920 and in 1922 the assistant

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

(which subsequently became the

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

) in Palestine. In 1931 he was appointed legal draftsman to the Palestine Government and in 1933, he compiled and catalogued the laws, decrees, regulations, rules, which were issued in Palestine in addition to the British Royal laws and decrees enforced in the

Mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...

, ''The Laws of Palestine : in force on the 31st day of December 1933''. Drayton passed the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1934, becoming a barrister, following which he was appointed as the Attorney General for Tanganyika. In 1939 he was transferred to

and appointed as the

Legal Secretary of Ceylon The Legal Secretary of Ceylon, was an officer of state of the British Colonial Administration of Ceylon from 1931 to 1947, appointed from the Colonial Legal Service. The Legal Secretary one of three officers of state of the Board of Ministers ...

in 1940, before succeeded Guy Stanley Wodeman as

in 1942. In the 1942 Birthday Honours he was made 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, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

and on 22 February 1944 he was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed, as part of the

1944 New Year Honours The 1944 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1943. The recip ...

list, for his service as

. He returned to England in 1947 when Ceylon gained its independence and served for three years as the Director of the Statutory Publications Office, the agency responsible for the publication and indexing of statutes. In 1950 Drayton returned to Asia as chief draftsman to the

Constituent Assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution; and serving as an interim ...

, serving in the role for three years. Drayton died on 20 February 1963 at The Hospital in

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Bibliography

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References

External links

HMS CEYLON VISITS COLOMBO. 5 JANUARY 1944. THE COLONY CLASS CRUISER HMS CEYLON MADE A CALL AT COLOMBO, THE CAPITAL ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drayton, Robert Harry 1892 births 1963 deaths Lawyers from Exeter People educated at Exeter School Chief secretaries of Ceylon British expatriates in Sri Lanka British people in Mandatory Palestine Tanganyika (territory) people 20th-century British lawyers Machine Gun Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Exeter Colonial Legal Service officers Colonial Administrative Service officers Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Bachelor English barristers English solicitors Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of the University of London British colonial attorneys general in Asia Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon Legal Secretary of Ceylon