Herbert Ralph Hone
Encyclopedia
Major-General Sir Ralph Hone MC
, KCMG, KBE (3 May 1896 – 28 November 1992) was a British army officer, barrister and colonial administrator.
, Sussex, and was educated at Varndean Grammar School
, Brighton
. Hone's mother died while he was in his teens; his father, "a man of character", went on to become mayor
of Brighton in 1937.
In April 1915 Hone passed the British civil service examination. He then joined the Inns of Court regiment, joining the London Irish Rifles later that year. He was posted to the 1/18th battalion and was involved in the Battle of Loos
in autumn 1915. Hone served in the Notre Dame de Lorette sector and then at Vimy Ridge
. During this time Hone was hospitalised with acute trench fever
and impetigo
.
On 21 March 1918 the Germans opened their offensive with 6000 guns. Hone's company halted the German's first infantry assault, caputuring 25 German prisoners. Hone was awarded the Military Cross
(MC) for his actions when the Germans attempted to enfilade the British lines, becoming severely injured in the process. He was repatriated to England, and by the end of the war had been promoted to a captain
. The day after the Armistice he married Elizabeth Matthews (b. 1894/5), with whom he later had two children, a son and daughter.
In 1920 Hone left the army and joined the colonial service in Uganda. He trained as a barrister
and on his first long leave was called to the bar
by the Middle Temple
in 1924, during which time he aided in the prosecution of Patrick Mahon, the perpetrator of the Crumbles murders
. The next year he was appointed Zanzibar
's registrar to the high court; followed by resident magistrate. His legal career continued with an appointment as crown counsel in Tanganyika
, followed by Attorney-General in Gibraltar
. While he was in Gibraltar the Spanish Civil War
broke out; domestic duties included acting as chairman of the Gibraltar government slum clearance commission. From Gibraltar he was posted to Uganda
from 1937 to 1943, as Attorney-General.
, first as legal advisor to advise on law in the conquered Italian territories) and later as chief political officer. In March 1943 he was promoted to major-general, "to ease his command over the Brigadiers under him"; he was also appointed CBE
. This was followed by a period in the War Office
in London, dealing with the war situation in South-East Asia
. While working at South East Asia Command
(SEAC) headquarters he got to know Louis Mountbatten, Lord Mountbatten of Burma. In August 1945 Hone was sent to Malaya
, to oversee the handover to civilian rule, and was present at the Japanese surrender
at Singapore
on 12 September.
and Commander-in-Chief of North Borneo
. Hone was considered a great success as Governor of North Borneo, encouraging the country's recovery from the ravages of the Japanese occupation and expanding the colony's export trades. He was appointed KCMG in 1951.
government from July to November 1966.
Hone was Vice President of the Royal Commonwealth Society
. He was also an active freemason, a member of the higher degree of freemasonry, the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite 33º.
Hone was also Bailiff Grand Cross of the Venerable Order of St John. He died on 28 November 1992.
An archive of Hone's papers dating from 1937 to 1972 has been deposited at the Bodleian Library
of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House
, part of the University of Oxford
. The reference for the records is MSS Brit Emp s 407, MSS Ind Ocn s 271.
In addition, the papers of Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma held at Southampton University Library include correspondence with Hone relating to South East Asia Command 1944–1946. The reference for the records is MB1/C124.
A steam engine was named in his honour, the Hunslet-built 40604T "Sir H. Ralph Hone", which is now displayed in the Sabah Museum
, Kota Kinabalu
, Sabah
.
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, KCMG, KBE (3 May 1896 – 28 November 1992) was a British army officer, barrister and colonial administrator.
Life up to World War II
Hone was born in HoveHove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, Sussex, and was educated at Varndean Grammar School
Varndean College
Varndean College is a sixth form college located in Brighton & Hove that serves the needs of sixth form students and adults.-History:The college was founded in 1884 in York Place, Brighton as a boys' Secondary School and moved to its current site overlooking the city and the sea in 1932, later...
, Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. Hone's mother died while he was in his teens; his father, "a man of character", went on to become mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Brighton in 1937.
In April 1915 Hone passed the British civil service examination. He then joined the Inns of Court regiment, joining the London Irish Rifles later that year. He was posted to the 1/18th battalion and was involved in the Battle of Loos
Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...
in autumn 1915. Hone served in the Notre Dame de Lorette sector and then at Vimy Ridge
Battle of Vimy Ridge
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps, of four divisions, against three divisions of the German Sixth Army...
. During this time Hone was hospitalised with acute trench fever
Trench fever
Trench fever is a moderately serious disease transmitted by body lice. It infected armies in Flanders, France, Poland, Galicia, Italy, Salonika, Macedonia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt in World War I Trench fever (also known as "Five day fever", "Quintan fever" (febris Quintana in Latin), "Urban trench...
and impetigo
Impetigo
Impetigo is a highly contagious bacterial skin infection most common among pre-school children. People who play close contact sports such as rugby, American football and wrestling are also susceptible, regardless of age. Impetigo is not as common in adults. The name derives from the Latin impetere...
.
On 21 March 1918 the Germans opened their offensive with 6000 guns. Hone's company halted the German's first infantry assault, caputuring 25 German prisoners. Hone was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(MC) for his actions when the Germans attempted to enfilade the British lines, becoming severely injured in the process. He was repatriated to England, and by the end of the war had been promoted to a captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
. The day after the Armistice he married Elizabeth Matthews (b. 1894/5), with whom he later had two children, a son and daughter.
In 1920 Hone left the army and joined the colonial service in Uganda. He trained as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and on his first long leave was called to the bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
by the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
in 1924, during which time he aided in the prosecution of Patrick Mahon, the perpetrator of the Crumbles murders
Crumbles murders
The Crumbles Murders may refer to one of two crimes that took place on "The Crumbles", a shingle beach between Eastbourne and Pevensey Bay — the 1920 murder of Irene Munro by Field and Gray, and the 1924 double murder of Emily Kaye and her unborn infant by Patrick Mahon.-Irene Munro:Irene...
. The next year he was appointed Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
's registrar to the high court; followed by resident magistrate. His legal career continued with an appointment as crown counsel in Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
, followed by Attorney-General in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. While he was in Gibraltar the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
broke out; domestic duties included acting as chairman of the Gibraltar government slum clearance commission. From Gibraltar he was posted to Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
from 1937 to 1943, as Attorney-General.
World War II
Hone was made commandant of the Uganda defence force following the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1941 he was transferred to General Headquarters Middle EastMiddle East Command
The Middle East Command was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.The...
, first as legal advisor to advise on law in the conquered Italian territories) and later as chief political officer. In March 1943 he was promoted to major-general, "to ease his command over the Brigadiers under him"; he was also appointed CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
. This was followed by a period in the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
in London, dealing with the war situation in South-East Asia
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
. While working at South East Asia Command
South East Asia Command
South East Asia Command was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during World War II.-Background:...
(SEAC) headquarters he got to know Louis Mountbatten, Lord Mountbatten of Burma. In August 1945 Hone was sent to Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
, to oversee the handover to civilian rule, and was present at the Japanese surrender
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 12 September.
Post-war career
Hone married again in 1945, and had a son by his second wife Sybil. Hone was awarded the KBE in 1946. He served as Secretary-General to the Governor-General of Malaya for two years from 1946, followed by Deputy Commissioner-General in south-east Asia from 1948 to 1949, and in 1949 he was appointed GovernorGovernor of North Borneo
The Governor of North Borneo was the appointed head of the government of North Borneo.Originally the Governor was appointed by the North Borneo Chartered Company, which was responsible for the administration of the protectorate...
and Commander-in-Chief of North Borneo
North Borneo
North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is...
. Hone was considered a great success as Governor of North Borneo, encouraging the country's recovery from the ravages of the Japanese occupation and expanding the colony's export trades. He was appointed KCMG in 1951.
Final years of his career
Hone was head of the legal division of the Commonwealth Relations Office from 1954 to 1961, when he retired from the civil service, and resumed practice at the bar. Given his background in diplomacy and overseas service, he also held many important advisory posts both at home and overseas: his final advisorship was to the BermudanBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
government from July to November 1966.
Hone was Vice President of the Royal Commonwealth Society
Royal Commonwealth Society
The Royal Commonwealth Society is an international educational charity and a private members' club. Its mission is to support and promote the modern Commonwealth, its culture and core values...
. He was also an active freemason, a member of the higher degree of freemasonry, the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite 33º.
Hone was also Bailiff Grand Cross of the Venerable Order of St John. He died on 28 November 1992.
An archive of Hone's papers dating from 1937 to 1972 has been deposited at the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House
Rhodes House
Rhodes House is part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on the south of South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor.- History :...
, part of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. The reference for the records is MSS Brit Emp s 407, MSS Ind Ocn s 271.
In addition, the papers of Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma held at Southampton University Library include correspondence with Hone relating to South East Asia Command 1944–1946. The reference for the records is MB1/C124.
A steam engine was named in his honour, the Hunslet-built 40604T "Sir H. Ralph Hone", which is now displayed in the Sabah Museum
Sabah Museum
The Sabah Museum is the state Museum of Sabah, Malaysia. It is sited on 17 ha of land at Bukit Istana Lama in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital. The complex contains not only the museum proper, but also an ethnobotanic garden, a zoo and a heritage village. The main building also houses the Sabah...
, Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount...
, Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
.
Publications by Sir Herbert Ralph Hone
- Revised Edition of the Laws of Gibraltar in Force on the 31st of December 1935 Gibraltar: Benedict R Miles for Gibraltar Garrison Library Committee, 1936
- The Statute Law of the Bahama Islands, 1799–1965 in Force on the 1st April 1965 Nassau: Government of the Colony of the Bahama Islands, 1965
- The Subsidiary Legislation of the Bahama Islands, 1799–1965 Nassau: Government of the Colony of the Bahama Islands, 1965