{{short description|Irish-born British colonial administrator and retired British Army officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Cosmo Haskard | honorific_suffix = KCMG MBE | image = | caption = | birth_name = Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard | birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|11|25|df=yes}} | birth_place = Dublin, Ireland | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|2|21|1916|11|25|df=yes}} | death_place = Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland | office = Governor of the Falkland Islands | term_start = 1964 | term_end = 1970 | monarch = Elizabeth II | predecessor = Edwin Porter Arrowsmith | successor = Ernest Gordon Lewis | spouse = Phillada Stanley | module = {{Infobox military person |embed = yes |branch = British Army |service_years = 1938–1966 |rank = Major |unit = Royal Irish Fusiliers |commands = |battles = Second World War |awards = Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) }} }}
'''Sir Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG|MBE}} (25 November 1916 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish-born British colonial administrator and British Army officer.<ref>''The Daily Telegraph'' Issue no 50, 317 dated Wednesday 1 March 2017 p27 "Sir Cosmo Haskard Colonial administrator appointed Governor of the Falklands as Britain was winding up its empire"</ref> As Governor of the Falkland Islands from 1964 to 1970, he played a key role in defeating plans by Harold Wilson's Labour government to cede the sovereignty of the islands to Argentina. He turned 100 in November 2016<ref name="Centenary">{{cite news|title = Birthdays|newspaper = The Independent|date = 25 November 2016|url = http://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-independent/20161125/282574492677391|access-date = 26 November 2016}}</ref> and died on 21 February 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rip.ie/showdn.php?dn=314082 |title=Death Notice Of SIR COSMO HASKARD, Bantry, Cork, Ireland |website=Rip.ie |date=2017-02-16 |accessdate=2017-02-23}}</ref>
==Life and career==
Born in Dublin, he was the son of Brigadier-General John McDougal and Alicia "Lily" Haskard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mercierpress.ie/contentFiles/productExtracts/VoicesfromGreatHousesText.pdf |title=Voices from the Great Houses - Cork and Derry |website=Mercierpress.ie |accessdate=2017-02-23}}</ref> He was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He passed second out of Sandhurst but failed the medical examination to enter the Army. Instead, he read modern languages at Pembroke College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he served in the university's Officer Training Corps, attaining the rank of cadet company sergeant major; he was commissioned a second lieutenant for service with the infantry unit of the Cambridge OTC contingent on 1 October 1938.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34567|page=6892|date=4 November 1938}}</ref>
Haskard was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Irish Fusiliers on 1 November 1939,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34741|supp=y|page=7952|date=24 November 1939}}</ref> attaining the rank of captain (war-substantive) by the end of the Second World War. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (MBE) in September 1945.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37262|supp=y|page=4556|date=11 September 1945}}</ref>
Haskard was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 1 January 1949, with the honorary rank of major.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38927|supp=y|page=2723|date=2 June 1950}}</ref> He relinquished his reserve commission on 25 November 1966, retaining the honorary rank of major.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44181|supp=y|page=12822|date=24 November 1966}}</ref>
Haskard served as Governor of the Falkland Islands from 1964 to 1970.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHouAAAAIAAJ&q=%22haskard,+Sir+cosmo%22+1916&dq=%22haskard,+Sir+cosmo%22+1916 |title=The Colonial Office List |date=2007-04-02 |accessdate=2017-02-23|last1=Colonial Office |first1=Great Britain }}</ref> As governor, he was instrumental in defeating a move by Harold Wilson's government to cede sovereignty of the islands to Argentina.
He was appointed KCMG in the 1965 New Year Honours.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskard, Cosmo}} Category:1916 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Category:British men centenarians Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Governors of the Falkland Islands Category:Irish men centenarians Category:Irish knights Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Military personnel from Dublin (city) Category:Royal Irish Fusiliers officers Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Category:Colonial Administrative Service officers Category:Nyasaland people