Henry McMahon (diplomat)

For the political scientist, see Arthur MacMahon.

Sir Henry McMahon
Born	28 November 1862
Died	29 December 1949
Occupation	Diplomat, commissioner
Known for	McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, McMahon Line

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, GCMG, GCVO, KCIE, CSI (28 November 1862 Shimla, India — 29 December 1949 London, United Kingdom) was a British diplomat and Indian Army officer who served as the High Commissioner in Egypt from 1915 to 1917. He was also an administrator in British India, and served twice as Chief Commissioner of Balochistan. McMahon is best known for the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, as well as the McMahon Line between Tibet and India. He also features prominently in T.E. Lawrence's account of his role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. He is usually known as Sir Henry McMahon.

Background

McMahon was the son of Lieutenant-General Charles Alexander McMahon, FRS, FGS (1830–1904), a edgeologist and Commissioner of both Lahore and Hisar in British India, and who, like his father Captain Alexander McMahon (born 1791 in Kilrea, County Derry, Ulster, Ireland) had been an officer with the East India Company. The McMahons are the Gaelic clan of Mac Mathghamhna who had come originally from the medieval Irish kingdom of Airgíalla or Oriel in South Ulster/North Leinster, where they reigned from around 1250 until about 1600. Sir Henry's own family had settled in the Downpatrick area of County Down before his great-grandfather, The Rev. Arthur McMahon, moved to Kilrea, where he was minister to the local Presbyterian congregation between 1789 and 1794: a prominent Irish Republican, The Rev. McMahon was a member of the National Directory of the Society of United Irishmen and one of their Colonels in Ulster during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. He apparently fought at the battles of Saintfield and Ballynahinch and after the rebels' overall defeat had been able to flee to France where he served with Napoléon's Irish Legion. It is said that he was captured by the British during the Walcheren Campaign of 1809, and though sent to England, was later able to return to France where in June 1815 he eventually died fighting, it is believed, at either Ligny or of Waterloo.

Career

McMahon was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Indian Staff Corps in the 1880s and was appointed a CIE in 1894. By 1897, he had been promoted to captain and was appointed a CSI in that year. He was promoted to a majority in the army in 1901. He was knighted with the KCIE in 1906 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1909. In 1911, on the occasion of the Delhi Durbar, he was appointed a GCVO and was appointed to the post of High Commissioner in Egypt in 1914. In 1915, he was made a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John (KStJ). He was appointed a GCMG in 1916 upon his retirement from the Indian Army. In 1920, he was awarded the Order of El Nahda, 1st Class, from the King of the Hejaz. In 1925, he was promoted to a Knight of Justice in the Order of St John.

Titles

• 1862-1882: Arthur Henry McMahon
• 1882-1894: Lieutenant Arthur Henry McMahon
• 1894-1895: Lieutenant Arthur Henry McMahon, CIE
• 1895-1897: Captain Arthur Henry McMahon, CIE
• 1897-1901: Captain Arthur Henry McMahon, CSI, CIE
• 1901-1906: Major Arthur Henry McMahon, CSI, CIE
• 1906-1909: Major Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, KCIE, CSI
• 1909-1911: Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, KCIE, CSI
• 1911-1916: Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, GCVO, KCIE, CSI
• 1916-1949: Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, GCMG, GCVO, KCIE, CSI

References

Political offices
Preceded by Sir Milne Cheetham	British High Commissioner in Egypt 9 January 1915 – 1 January 1917	Succeeded by Sir Reginald Wingate
Preceded by Alexander Lauzun Pendock Tucker	Chief Commissioner of Balochistan 2 April 1907 – 3 June 1909	Succeeded by Charles Archer
Preceded by Charles Archer	Chief Commissioner of Balochistan 6 September 1909 – 25 April 1911	Succeeded by John Ramsay