Born in 1884, Sir Harry Charles Luke receives his first position as a civil servant for the British Government as a private Secretary to the Governor of Sierra Leone in 1908. Serving as a naval commander during WWI, Luke is appointed Assistant governor of Jerusalem (1920-24), working with Ronald Storrs. He investigates the Arab riots against Jews in Jaffa in 1921 and is Acting High Commissioner during the 1929 Hebron/Jerusalem Arab-Jewish disturbances.