Sir Henry Mendelssohn Hake CBE FSA FRHistS (30 January 1892 – 4 April 1951) was a British museum curator who was Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 1927 until his death.[1]

Early life and education

He was the son of Henry Wilson Hake, Ph.D., and a grandson of Thomas Gordon Hake, a physician, poet, and friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, George Borrow, and others. Hake was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] On 2 June 1914,[3] he became an assistant in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum.[2]

Military service

A year after the outbreak of the First World War, on 22 August 1915, Hake was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Cambridgeshire Regiment,[4] and was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 1 February 1916.[5]

On 9 February 1917, he was seconded for special duty,[6] and graded for the purposes of pay as a staff lieutenant (3rd class).[7] On 4 June, his pay grade was raised to that of staff lieutenant (2nd class),[8] and on 29 August he was promoted to lieutenant, with seniority from 1 June 1916.[9] He finally returned to the Cambridgeshire Regiment on 29 July 1919.[10]

On 24 October 1919, he received permission to wear the Croix de guerre awarded to him by France.[11] He resigned his commission on 9 October 1920.[12]

Later career

Hake returned to the British Museum, remaining there until he was appointed as Director, Keeper and Secretary of the National Portrait Gallery[2] on 1 December 1927.[13]

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the King's Birthday Honours of June 1933,[14] and an Officer of the Order of Saint John on 23 December 1942.[15] Hake was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1947 New Years Honours.[16]

His portrait is held by the National Portrait Gallery.[17]

Hake had married Patricia Robertson in 1920, he died at his home in London on 4 April 1951, aged 59.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Hake, Sir Henry M.". Who Was Who (online ed.). A & C Black. 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Hake ~ Eleventh Generation". Libby Shade's Page of Family Trees. 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. ^ "No. 28846". The London Gazette. 3 July 1914. p. 5166.
  4. ^ "No. 29270". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 August 1915. p. 8368.
  5. ^ "No. 29516". The London Gazette. 21 March 1916. p. 3076.
  6. ^ "No. 29964". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 February 1917. p. 2095.
  7. ^ "No. 29967". The London Gazette. 2 March 1917. p. 2123.
  8. ^ "No. 30247". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 August 1917. p. 8666.
  9. ^ "No. 30256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1917. p. 8966.
  10. ^ "No. 31520". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 August 1919. p. 10735.
  11. ^ "No. 31615". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 October 1919. pp. 13000–13001.
  12. ^ "No. 32079". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 October 1920. p. 9874.
  13. ^ "No. 33345". The London Gazette. 6 January 1928. p. 139.
  14. ^ "No. 33946". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1933. p. 3808.
  15. ^ "No. 35846". The London Gazette. 1 January 1943. pp. 116–117.
  16. ^ "No. 37835". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1946. pp. 1–2.
  17. ^ "Sir Henry Hake". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Obituary - Sir Henry Hake - Director of the National Portrait Gallery". The Times. No. 51967. London. 5 April 1951. p. 6.