Keith Hancock

Sir William Keith Hancock (26 June 1898 – 13 August 1988), also known as W. K. Hancock, was a prominent Australian historian and academic. Hancock was an Anglican and keen admirer of the British Empire.

Early life and education He was born on 26 June 1898, in Melbourne, Colony of Victoria, the son of Archdeacon William Hancock. At age nine, he won the Royal Humane Society's medal for rescuing another child from drowning in the Mitchell River. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and later the University of Melbourne where he was resident at Trinity College Too young to see service in World War I without permission from his parents, it was said that he always felt shame about the fact he could not fight. In 1930 he published Australia, a book which was well received and notable for its ironic tone, particularly in criticism of Australian institutions such as tariff protection, was highly influential, and is frequently quoted even today. In 1941 he was appointed Supervisor of the United Kingdom Civil Series of the History of the Second World War and was thereafter editor of the series. In 1943, Argument of Empire was published, in which Hancock defended the British Empire.

In 1949, with Margaret Gowing, he wrote , the first volume of the History of the Second World War series. Between 1944 and 1949, he returned to Oxford, becoming Chichele Professor of Economic History. and 1968, and editing for publication, with Jean van der Poel, the first four volumes of the Smuts papers.

Hancock returned to Australia in 1957 to take up an appointment as Director of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, In his later years, he moved south of Canberra, becoming a firm supporter of environmental politics. He disliked American bases on Australian soil, and he was a very prominent but ultimately unsuccessful opponent of the construction of Black Mountain Tower in Canberra. He died on 13 August 1988, aged 90, in Canberra.