Harold Alfred MacMichael

Sir; Capt. Harold Alfred MacMichael DSO
Born	1882
Died	1969
Residence	Deputy Inspector, Sudan Civil Service, Bara, Kordofan, Sudan [and] 11 Parkside, Cambridge [1913] Omdurman, Sudan; 11 Parkside, Cambridge [1917] Khartoum, Sudan [1919] Nouds, Teignham, Kent; Government House, Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika Territory, E. Africa [A63/8, 1934] Nouds, Teynham, kent; Government House, Jerusalem, Palestine [1937]
Occupation	civil service
Society Membership membership ordinary fellow left 1946.12.10 resigned elected_AI 1908.12.15 1934.01.23

Notes

House Notes

1908.11.10 proposed by Capt. S. Lyle Cummins, seconded by C.S. Myers
report of the council for 1916: congratulations to Capt. H. A. Macmichael,w ho has been made a member of the Distinguished Service Order
1934.01.23 Sir H.A. MacMichael (a former Fellow elected forthwith); proposed by C.G. Seligman, seconded by C.O. Blagden
1947.10.07 it was resolved that the President should write to Sir A. Cardinall and to Sir H. MacMichael, a former Member who had resigned a year ago, with a view to obtaining their reconsideration

Notes From Elsewhere

Sir Harold Alfred MacMichael GCMG DSO (1882 – 1969), was a British colonial administrator.
Educated at Bedford School, MacMichael graduated with a first from Magdalene College, Cambridge.[1] After passing his civil service exam, he entered the service of the British Empire in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He then served in the Blue Nile province until 1915 when he became a senior inspector of Khartoum province, rising to the position of civil secretary in 1926. In 1933 he became Governor of Tanganyika until 1937.
The next year he became High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine and was blamed for sending at least 768 Jewish refugees aboard MV Struma to their deaths. The Jewish freedom fighters in Palestine, whom the British called terrorists, pasted posters bearing his portrait everywhere in the country saying he was wanted for murder. Seven unsuccessful attempts, mainly by Lehi, were undertaken to assassinate him during his sojourn in Palestine. In the last, both he and his wife narrowly escaped death in an ambush Lehi mounted on 8 August 1944 on the eve of his replacement as High Commissioner.[2]
MacMichael also served a stint as High Commissioner of Malta.
The British Military Administration set to task of reviving pre-war plans for centralised control over the Malay states within days after British Allied forces landed in Singapore on 5 September 1945.
MacMichael, who had then completed his stint as High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine was empowered to sign official treaties with the Malay rulers over the Malayan Union proposal scheme. MacMichael made several visits to the Malay rulers, beginning with Sultan Ibrahim of Johor in October 1945. The Sultan quickly consented to MacMichael's proposal scheme, which was motivated by his strong desire to visit England at the end of the year. MacMichael paid further visits to other Malay rulers over the proposal, and sought their consent over the proposal scheme. Many Malay rulers expressed strong reluctance in signing the treaties with MacMichael, partly because they feared losing their royal status and the prospect of their states falling into Thai political influence.[3]
The treaties provided that United Kingdom had full administrative powers over the Malay states except in areas pertaining to Islamic customs. The Malays strongly protested against the treaties, as the treaties had the effect of circumscribing the spiritual and moral authority of the Malay rulers, which the Malays held high esteem over it. Communal tensions between the Malays and Chinese were high, and the prospect of granting citizenship to non-Malays was deemed unacceptable to the Malays.[3]
Opposition to Malayan Union and MacMichael's perceived highhanded ways in getting the Malay rulers consent led to the birth of Malay nationalism in then British Malaya
MacMichael's daughter, Araminta, married the politician and business leader Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington.

Publications

External Publications

A History of the Arabs in the Sudan: And Some Account of the People who Preceded them and of the Tribes Inhabiting Dárfūr

The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1934;
The tribes of northern and central Kordofan, 1912

Related Material Details

RAI Material

Membership correspondence: MacMichael, Sir H.A.

Other Material

University of Durham: papers, etc.