16 Facts About Maurice Hankey

1.

Maurice Hankey is best known as the highly-efficient top aide to Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the War Cabinet, which directed Britain during the First World War.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,353
2.

Third son of R A Hankey, Maurice Hankey was born at Biarritz in 1877 and educated at Rugby School.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,354
3.

Maurice Hankey joined the Royal Marine Artillery, was promoted to captain and served in successive roles, including as coastal defence analyst in the War Division of the Naval Intelligence Department.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,355
4.

Maurice Hankey's youngest brother, Donald Hankey, was a soldier best known for a series of essays that he wrote while he served on the western front in World War I Donald died in action at the Somme.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,356
5.

The Maurice Hankey family moved several times while their children were young, living in Malta for a year in 1907 before eventually settling in Highstead near Limpsfield, Surrey.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,357
6.

Lord Maurice Hankey died in 1963, aged 85, and was succeeded in his barony by his eldest son Robert.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,358
7.

In 1908, Maurice Hankey was appointed Naval Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,359
8.

Maurice Hankey became Secretary to the Committee in 1912, a position that he would hold for the 26 years.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,360
9.

Maurice Hankey gained such a reputation for strong competency that when the full Cabinet was restored in 1919, the secretariat was retained, and Hankey then served as Secretary to the Cabinet for 19 years.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,361
10.

Maurice Hankey remained a respected figure and was often consulted by ministers and civil servants for advice.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,362
11.

Maurice Hankey was personally reluctant to take on the task but agreed to do so.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,363
12.

Maurice Hankey became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Chamberlain was succeeded by Winston Churchill in May 1940 but was left out of Churchill's War Cabinet.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,364
13.

In July 1941, Lord Maurice Hankey was moved to the position of Paymaster-General, but the following year, he was dropped from the Government altogether.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,365
14.

Maurice Hankey continued to hold other positions in both the public and private sector until his death.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,366
15.

Maurice Hankey kept a series of at times startlingly-detailed handwritten diaries throughout most of his years in government, including during his time as Secretary to the War Council and Imperial War Cabinet of the First World War.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,367
16.

Maurice Hankey was then promoted within the same order as a Knight Commander in 1916 and as a Knight Grand Cross in 1919.

FactSnippet No. 2,386,368