Hankey, Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron

Hankey, Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron, 1877–1963, British soldier and civil servant. Educated at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, he served in the Royal Marines artillery (1895–1901) and in naval intelligence (1902–6). As secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence (1912–38) and secretary to the cabinet (1916–38), he represented Great Britain at imperial and international conferences and was extremely influential in a back-room capacity. In 1939 he was made a baron and a privy councillor, and he held minor cabinet posts until 1942. He became an active member of the House of Lords, a director of the Suez Canal Company, and an author. His writings include Government Control in War (1945), Diplomacy by Conference (1946), and The Supreme Command, 1914–1918 (1961).

See biography by S. W. Roskill (2 vol., 1970–72).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2026, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies