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Correspondence of William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey

 Collection

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Correspondence about Hailey's visits, books and lectures, with some related papers (newspaper cuttings, etc.). Includes papers relating to:

  1. Journeys by Hailey in Africa (1935, 1940-1941)
  2. British Council lectures in Portugal (1945) and Zurich (1957)
  3. Visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1949)
  4. Visits to the USA (1952, 1953)
  5. Visit to Swasiland (1946)
  6. Reviews of An African Survey Revised (1956).

Dates

  • Creation: 1935-1966

Extent

2 boxes

Language of Materials

  • English

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MSS.Brit.Emp.s.342].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS.Brit.Emp.s.342-343

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 2169

Biographical / Historical

William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey (1872-1969), was born in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford (he became an honorary fellow of the College in 1925).

Hailey entered the Indian Civil Service in 1895. He was posted to the Punjab where, in 1901, he became colonisation officer for the Jhelum Canal Colony. In 1907 he was appointed to the post of Secretariat Officer and worked in this capacity in the Punjab (1907) and in the Finance Department of the Government of India (1908).

In 1912, Hailey became the first Chief Commissioner of the new province of Delhi, a post he held until 1918. During this period he was also on deputation to the reforms committee whose advice to the Secretary of State culminated in the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, the main recommendations of which were embodied in the Government of India Act of 1919.

Between 1919 and 1924, Hailey served as a member of the Executive Council of the Governor-General, working in the Finance and Home Departments. He held governorships in the Punjab (from 1924) and the United Provinces (from 1928), and in 1930 was called to London for the Round Table Conference where he played an important part in the discussions which led to the Government of India Act of 1935. Hailey retired from India in 1934, although he continued to act as an adviser to successive Secretaries of State.

After retiring from India, Hailey became director of an expedition sent to carry out a survey of Africa. This survey covered politics, administration and education, as well as soil erosion, irrigation and the improvement of crops. The results were published in 1938 under the title An African survey: a study of problems arising in Africa south of the Sahara.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Hailey was asked by the colonial secretary to visit the African colonies and to make recommendations on how to secure their support. One of Hailey's proposals was the appointment of Africans to the Colonial Administrative Service. There was influential opposition to this suggestion and although his advice was accepted for the west coast it failed to win acceptance for the east and central African territories.

Hailey returned from his visit to the African colonies in the summer of 1940 and was immediately asked to go to the Belgian Congo as head of an economic mission. When he returned from the Belgian Congo he was appointed chairman of the Colonial Research Fund which had been founded in 1940 to provide government funding for African studies.

In 1952, when he was 80 years old, Hailey undertook a second survey of Africa. He again travelled throughout the continent and each chapter was entirely rewritten. The second survey was published in 1957.

Hailey was an active chairman of many voluntary bodies and received many academic honours. He was raised to the peerage in 1936.

Compiled with reference to the Dictionary of National Biography.

Other Finding Aids

The library holds a card index of all manuscript collections in its reading room.

Listed as nos. 16, 17, 826 and 827 in Manuscript Collections of Africana in Rhodes House Library, Oxford, compiled by Louis B. Frewer (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1968) and as nos. 17 and 17a in Manuscript Collections (excluding Africana) in Rhodes House Library, Oxford, compiled by Louis B. Frewer (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1970).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquisition information unknown.

Title
Correspondence of William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey
Status
Published
Author
Marion Lowman
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom