(William) Malcolm Hailey, Baron Hailey (1872–1969), an administrator in India and writer on Africa, was born in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, on 15 Feb 1872, the third son of Hammett Hailey (d. 1881), a doctor, and his wife, Maria Coelia Clode (d. 1911), of a long-established family in the City of London. Malcolm was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, graduating with a first-class degree in 1894. Having been placed third in the Indian Civil Service examinations, he served briefly in Calcutta (Kolkata) before being posted in 1895, to the land division of the Punjab secretariat. Between 1901 and 1907, Hailey served as the first colonisation officer of the Lower Jhelum Canal Colony, Shahpur district. This was one of several large-scale irrigation projects, comparable to ventures in Sudan, the Middle East, and the south-western United States, turning deserts into prosperous, bread-basket communities. In 1922, Hailey moved to the Home Office, the most important division of which, the home political department, was tasked with responding to Indian nationalism. In 1924, Hailey became Governor of the Punjab, which would ordinarily have been the culmination of his career. In 1928, following the unexpected death of Sir Alexander Muddiman, Hailey became governor of the United Provinces (later Uttar Pradesh), regarded as the top position open to a member of the Indian Civil Service. There he remained until his retirement in 1934.