Harry Luke
Harry Charles Luke | |
---|---|
ActingHigh Commissioner for Palestine | |
In office 31 July 1928 – 6 December 1928 | |
Monarch | George V |
Preceded by | Herbert Onslow Plumer |
Succeeded by | John Chancellor |
14thHigh Commissioner for the Western Pacific | |
In office 16 September 1938 – 20 July 1942 | |
Monarch | George VI |
Preceded by | Arthur Richards |
Succeeded by | Philip Euen Mitchell |
15thGovernor of Fiji | |
In office 16 September 1938 – 20 July 1942 | |
Monarch | George VI |
Preceded by | Arthur Richards |
Succeeded by | Philip Euen Mitchell |
Personal details | |
Born | Harry Charles Lukach 4 December 1884 London |
Died | 11 May 1969 Cyprus | (aged 84)
Resting place | Conventual church of theOrder of St John of JerusaleminClerkenwell,London. |
Nationality | British |
Spouse |
Joyce Evelyn Fremlin
(m.1918;div.1949) |
Relations | Peter Luke(son) |
Children | 2 sons |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Oxford |
Occupation | Naval officer, author, colonial administrator |
Military service | |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Sir Harry Charles LukeKCMGGCStJ(bornHarry Charles Lukach;[a]4 December 1884 – 11 May 1969[1]) was an official in theBritishColonial Office.He served inBarbados,Cyprus,Transcaucasia,Sierra Leone,Palestine,Malta,theBritish Western Pacific TerritoriesandFiji.He is the author of some books on several of these countries.
Biography
[edit]Luke was born in London in 1884. His father, J.H. Luke (né Lukács)[2]was anAustro-Hungarian,but later acquired American citizenship; his mother was a PolishCatholicof theminor nobility.Luke was educated atEton Collegeand atTrinity College,Oxford,of which he became anHonorary Fellowin 1952, and converted toAnglicanism.
Luke's first official appointment was asprivate secretaryin Sierra Leone in 1908. He becameaide-de-campthe following year, and briefly acted as Colonial Secretary for a few months. In 1911 he moved toBarbadosto become private secretary to the Governor.[3]He subsequently served as private secretary to theHigh Commissionerof Cyprus (1911–1912) and ascommissionerofFamagusta(1918–1920). From 1909 to 1911 he was also asecond lieutenantin the LondonYeomanry.
DuringWorld War I,Luke served asCommanderof theRoyal Naval Volunteer Reserveon the Syrian Coast, and as a Political Officer on the staff of Admiral SirRosslyn Wemyss;for his services he was awarded the ItalianSilver Medal of Military Valor.
In 1919 Luke was appointed Political Officer to theAdmiral of the Fleet,SirJohn de Robeck.In 1920 he spent six months (from April to September) as BritishChief Commissionerin Transcaucasia (Georgia,Armenia,andAzerbaijan).
In 1921, he was assistant Governor ofJerusalemand was appointed a member of theHaycraft Commission,which was established bySir Herbert Samuelto investigate the cause of the riot which started inJaffaon 1 May that year, and into the affairs of theOrthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.[4]
From 1924 to 1928 Luke held the post ofColonial SecretaryofSierra Leone.He was subsequently appointed to be the acting High Commissioner to theGovernment of Palestine.He assumed this position on 19 July 1928 and held it until 6 December 1928.
In August 1929, acting as deputy toSir John Robert Chancellor,Luke attempted to mediate an agreement betweenJewishandArableaders, without success. Later he wasLieutenant Governor of Malta(1930–1938) andGovernor of FijiandHigh Commissionerof theBritish Western Pacific Territoriesfrom 1938 to 1942. He left Fiji on 20 July 1942.[5]
On his retirement from the Colonial Service in 1943, Luke served for three years as chief representative of theBritish Councilin theCaribbean.He died in Cyprus, where he often spent the winter, on 11 May 1969.
AFreemasonof theUnited Grand Lodge of England,in 1919–1920 he served as the 28th First Principal of the St. Paul'sRoyal ArchChapter N. 2277 E. C. in Cyprus.[6][7]
Family
[edit]In 1918 Luke married Joyce Evelyn Fremlin, the daughter of Henry James Leigh Fremlin and his wife, Maud Evelyn Deane (divorced 1949). They had two sons,Peter Ambrose Cyprian Luke,born in 1919, and Michael Charles Deane Luke, born in 1925.[8]
Honours
[edit]- CMG (1926), Knight (1933),Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George(1939)
- GCStJ (1960),Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St John[9]
Luke's published works
[edit]- The Fringe of the East. Journey through Past and Present Provinces ofTurkey,(Macmillan & Co), 1913 (First published under the name Harry Charles Lukach)
- The City of the Dancing Dervishes,1914
- Cypriote Shrines,(Faith Press), 1920
- The Handbook of Cyprus(London), 1920 (together with D.J. Jardine)
- Cyprus under the Turks 1571–1878,(Oxford University Press), 1921
- Report of the commission appointed by the government of Palestine to inquire into the affairs of the orthodox patriarchate of Jerusalem,1921 (together with Anton Bertram)
- The handbook of Palestine,1922 (together with Edward Keith Roach)
- Anatolica,(London), 1924
- Mosul and its minorities,1925
- Prophets, Priests and Patriarchs: sketches of the sects of Palestine and Syria,1927
- In the Margin of History,1933
- An Eastern Checkerboard,1934
- More Moves on an Eastern Checkerboard,1935
- The Making of Modern Turkey,(Macmillan & Co), 1936
- The British Pacific islands,1944
- From a South Seas Diary, 1938–1942,1945
- "Aden", in:The British Empire,by Hector Bolitho, 1948.
- Malta, an account and an appreciation,1949
- Caribbean Circuit,1950
- Aegean, Cyprus, Turkey, Transcaucasia and Palestine (1914–1924),1953
- Cities and Men: an autobiography– Vols. 1 & 2, 1953
- Queen Salote and her Kingdom,1954
- The Tenth Muse: A Gourmet's Compendium,1954 (a cookery book)
- The Old Turkey and the New: from Byzantium to Ankara,1955 (First published in 1936 under the titleThe Making of Modern Turkey)
- Cities and Men: an autobiography,Vol. 3, 1956
- Cyprus: a Portrait and an Appreciation,(Harrap), 1957
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^Anglicised spelling of the Hungarian (Lukács), from the personal name Lukács, Hungarian form of Lucas (English: Luke).
References
[edit]- ^"Sir Harry Luke Collection"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 November 2018.Retrieved15 August2015.
- ^"Sir Harry Luke Collection"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 November 2018.Retrieved30 December2013.
- ^New Governor of FijiPacific Islands Monthly,July 1938, p7
- ^Palestine. Disturbances in May, 1921. Reports of the Commission of Inquiry with correspondence relating thereto.. (1921), by the Haycraft Commission of Inquiry
- ^Fiji (20 July 1942).Fiji Royal Gazette(1942 ed.). p. 285.
- ^Christophoros Tornaritis,History of Cypriot Freemasonry(in Greek), Limassol, Cyprus, 1948, p. 24.
- ^St. Paul‘s Lodge No. 2277 and Chapter,official site.
- ^Sir Harry Luke CollectionArchived3 November 2018 at theWayback Machine.Births registered in St Albans Registration District in the third quarter of 1919 and second quarter of 1925. Lady Luke married, secondly, Harold Anthany Shadforth, and died inCape Townin 1973 – seeeGGSA Library SHADFORTH Harold Anthany 1892–1983 & Joyce Evelyn FREMLIN 1894–1973.
- ^"No. 42108".The London Gazette.2 August 1960. p. 5326.
Sources
[edit]- Holland, Robert (September 2004)."Luke, Sir Harry Charles (1884–1969)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34629.Retrieved17 April2009.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
External links
[edit]- 1884 births
- 1969 deaths
- Governors of Fiji
- British High Commissioners of Palestine
- Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John
- British people of Hungarian descent
- British people of Polish descent
- Alumni of the University of Oxford
- High Commissioners for the Western Pacific
- British expatriates in Malta
- Civil servants from London
- Writers from London
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
- British people of American descent
- British expatriates in Cyprus
- Colonial Secretaries of Sierra Leone
- Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England
- Chief Secretaries of Palestine
- Military personnel from London
- Royal Navy officers of World War I
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel
- 20th-century British Army personnel
- British Yeomanry officers
- Territorial Force officers
- Royal Navy officers
- Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor