He was Professor of Modern History at the
University of Adelaide between 1924 and 1933. On his appointment he was aged only 25, the youngest professor in the British Commonwealth, and one who had held no previous teaching post. 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. From 1934 to 1944 Hancock was the Professor of History at
University of Birmingham and during this war period was also appointed to the
War Cabinet Offices. His
Survey of British Commonwealth Affairs was published in three volumes in 1937–42. 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, he published
Argument of Empire, he defended the British Empire. In 1949, with
Margaret Gowing, he wrote
The British War Economy, the introductory volume to that series. Between 1944 and 1949, he returned to Oxford, becoming
Chichele Professor of
Economic History. During the War he also played a role in
Civil Defence, serving as a
firewatcher. He was knighted in 1953, partially for his services in writing and editing the histories. In 1949 he left Oxford, taking up an appointment as the Director of the
Institute of Commonwealth Studies. He served as the Professor of British Commonwealth Affairs at the
University of London until 1956. During this period he was sent as a government expert to examine constitutional questions in
Uganda in 1954, at the height of the
Kabaka crisis. At this time he began work on his authoritative
biography of the
South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts, which appeared in two volumes in 1962 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, a position he held until 1961. He was Professor of History at the
Institute of Advanced Studies, ANU until his retirement in 1965. On his retirement he was made
Emeritus Professor (1968) and created the first University
Fellow of the ANU. Other positions he held were Chairman of the Editorial Board of the
Australian Dictionary of Biography from 1958 to 1965 and inaugural President of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities from 1969 to 1971. In 1961, Hancock was appointed to the
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. 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. ==References==