Sir William Henry Drake, , (29 September 1812 – 28 January 1882) was a British public servant and Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia. Drake was the son of John Drake of

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

, Devon, Deputy Commissary-General, by Maria, daughter of George Story, of Silksworth Hall, County Durham, and entered the War Office in 1831. Drake was Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia from 1838 to 1848, appointed Assistant Commissary-General in 1845, and four years later was advanced to the post of

Commissary-General A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some ar ...

. In this capacity he served in various colonies, as well as in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and at

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

. He also had charge of the Turkish contingent. In 1867, Drake was appointed

Controller Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person ...

for Ireland, and two years afterwards Controller for Great Britain in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. From 1871 to 1877 he held the office of Director of Supplies and Transports. Drake was nominated a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1856, after the conclusion of the Russian war, and was advanced to a Knight Commander of that Order, in 1871. Drake was twice married, first, in 1834, to Louisa, daughter of Mr. James Purkis, and secondly, in 1862, to Elizabeth Lucy, daughter of the Hon. George Wood, member of the Council at the Cape of Good Hope. Drake died on 28 January 1882 at Clanricarde Gardens, Bayswater, London, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, William Henry 1812 births 1882 deaths Treasurers of Western Australia British civil servants Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century British civil servants 19th-century Australian public servants