British, 1892 - 1951
Hake was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. On 2 June 1914, he became an assistant in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. A year after the outbreak of the First World War, on 22 August 1915, Hake was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Cambridgeshire Regiment, and was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 1 February 1916. On 9 February 1917, Hake was seconded for special duty on 29 August he was promoted to lieutenant. He finally returned to the Cambridgeshire Regiment on 29 July 1919. On 24 October 1919 he received permission to wear the Croix de Guerre awarded to him by France. He resigned his commission on 9 October 1920.
Hake was the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 1927 until his death. During this time he was responsible for the administration of the Sydney Decimus Kitson bequest of art works to major institutions in the UK.
Hake was knighted in 1947.
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