Robert Hankey, 2nd Baron Hankey

Robert Maurice Alers Hankey, 2nd Baron Hankey KCMG KCVO (4 July 1905-28 October 1996), was a British diplomat and public servant.

Background and education

Hankey was the eldest son of Maurice Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey, and Adeline, daughter of Abraham de Smidt, of South Africa. He was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford.^[1]

Public career

In 1949 Hankey was appointed Chargé d'Affaires in Spain, a post he held until 1951, and then served as Minister to Hungary from 1951 to 1953. Between 1954 and 1960 he was Ambassador to Sweden. Hankey was also a Delegate to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation (renamed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1961) between 1960 and 1965.^[2] He succeeded his father in the barony in 1963 and became a very active member of the House of Lords, speaking 552 times between 1965 and his last speech in December 1991 at the age of 86.^[3] Hankey's was also involved in business and served as a director of the Alliance Building Society from 1970 to 1983. Between 1970 and 1970 he was President of the Anglo-Swedish Society. He was appointed a CMG in 1947, a KCMG in 1955 and a KCVO in 1956 as well as being awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star of Sweden.^[4]

Family

Lord Hankey was twice married. He married firstly Frances Bevyl, daughter of Walter Erskine Stuart-Menteth, in 1930. They had two sons and two daughters. After her death in 1957 he married secondly Joanna, daughter of Reverend James Johnstone Wright, in 1962.^[5] Lord Hankey died in October 1996, aged 91,^[6] and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, Donald.

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