Henry Mendelssohn Hake
Born(1892-01-30)30 January 1892
London, England
Died4 April 1951(1951-04-04) (aged 59)
London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationWestminster School
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
OccupationCurator
Years active1914–1915
1920–1951
RelativesThomas Gordon Hake (grandfather)
AwardsKnight Bachelor
Order of the British Empire
Order of Saint John
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1915–1920
RankLieutenant
UnitCambridgeshire Regiment
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsCroix de guerre (France)

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.
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