Sir Robert Harry Drayton | |
|---|---|
| Chief Secretary of Ceylon | |
| In office 1942–1946 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Preceded by | Guy Stanley Wodeman |
| Succeeded by | Post abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1892-04-14)14 April 1892 |
| Died | 20 February 1963(1963-02-20) (aged 70) |
| Citizenship | British |
| Spouse | Gertrude Edith née Phillips |
| Children | Denys, Dianne, Ruth |
| Alma mater | Exeter School,University of London |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1918 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Machine Gun Corps |
Sir Robert Harry DraytonCMG (14 April 1892 – 20 February 1963), was a lawyer and a senior colonial civil servant who worked inPalestine,Tanganyika,Ceylon, Jamaica andPakistan. He served as theChief Secretary of Ceylon from 1942 to 1947 and as the Legal Secretary of Ceylon.[1][2]
Robert Harry Drayton was born 14 April 1892 inExeter,Devon, the oldest son of Harry Godwin Drayton (1865–1927), a bookseller, and Emma Rose Hetty née Brealy (1866–1926).
Drayton was educated atExeter School before beingarticled to Roberts and Andrew, of Exeter. At the outbreak ofWorld War I he enlisted in thePublic Schools Battalions, serving as a sergeant, and was appointed as a lieutenant in theMachine Gun Corps, fighting in France from January 1916 to September 1917.[3] After graduating from theUniversity of London with alaw degree, he qualified as asolicitor in 1919, joining the Treasurer Solicitor's Department.
On 16 October 1920 he married Gertrude Edith Phillips (1886–1967), an Australian who had seen war service as a theatre nursing sister with ANZAC forces in Gallipoli, at Christ Church,Holborn,Middlesex. They had a son and two daughters: Denys (1923–2012), a major in theBritish India Army (7th Gurkha Rifles),Aide-de-camp to theBritish High Commissioner in Malaya, SirHenry Gurney and Superintendent of theUganda Police Force; Dianne (1928–2015), a senior administrative assistant atReuters and the founding secretary of the Reuter Society; and Ruth.
Drayton joined theColonial Legal Service and was appointed the assistant legal secretary inMandatory Palestine in 1920 and in 1922 the assistantAttorney General (which subsequently became theSolicitor General) in Palestine. In 1931 he was appointed legal draftsman to the Palestine Government and in 1933, he compiled and catalogued the laws, decrees, regulations, rules, which were issued in Palestine in addition to the British Royal laws and decrees enforced in theMandate,The Laws of Palestine : in force on the 31st day of December 1933.
Drayton passed the bar atGray's Inn in 1934, becoming a barrister, following which he was appointed as the Attorney General forTanganyika.[4]
In 1939 he was transferred toCeylon and appointed as theLegal Secretary of Ceylon in 1940, before succeededGuy Stanley Wodeman asChief Secretary of Ceylon in 1942.
In the1942 Birthday Honours he was made aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George and on 22 February 1944 he wasknighted, as part of the1944 New Year Honours list, for his service asChief Secretary of Ceylon. He returned to England in 1947 when Ceylon gained its independence and served for three years as the Director of the Statutory Publications Office, the agency responsible for the publication and indexing of statutes.
In 1950 Drayton returned to Asia as chief draftsman to theConstituent Assembly of Pakistan, serving in the role for three years.
Drayton died on 20 February 1963 at The Hospital inWeybridge,Surrey.
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