John Hathorn Hall

Sir John Hathorn Hall GCMG DSO OBE MC (19 June 1894 – 17 June 1979) was a British colonial administrator.

During World War I, he served with the 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers and the 27th Infantry Brigade, rising to the rank of captain,^[1] and was awarded the Military Cross as well as the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He worked in the Ministry of Finance of the Egyptian Civil Service (Egypt then being a British protectorate) in 1919–1920. Subsequently he served in the Middle East Department of the Colonial Office and was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List of 1931.^[2]

In 1927, Hall married Torfrida Trevenen Mills.^[3] In 1933, he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government of Palestine (then a British Mandate under the League of Nations).^[4] On at least two occasions, in 1934 and in 1937, he served as Officer Administering the Government of Palestine during absences of the High Commissioner for Palestine.^[5][6]

His later service included the following posts:

• British Resident in Zanzibar, October 1937 – 1940^[7]
• Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Aden, 24 October 1940 – 1 January 1945^[8]
• Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Uganda, 1 January 1945 – 17 January 1952^[9]

Sir John was awarded the GCMG in the New Year's Honours List of 1950.^[10] After retiring from the colonial service, Sir John became a director of several companies, including the P&O and British India steamship lines, and the Midland Bank. A portrait of Sir John by Walter Bird is now part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.^[11]