(Herbert) William Malkin was born on 17 April 1883, the son of H. C. Malkin. He was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge. He married Margaret Burnet Morris in 1913.

He was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple, 1907. He joined the Foreign Office in 1911 and was Assistant Legal Adviser, 1914-25; Second Legal Adviser, 1925-9; and Senior Legal Adviser, 1929-45.

He died in an aeroplane crash when returning from Montreal in Canada on 3-4 July 1945.

He was created CMG, 1918; CB, 1923; KCMG, 1930; and GCMG, 1937.

Margaret Burnet Morris was born in Dulwich on 24 July 1887, the daughter of Reginald Burnet Morris. She was educated at Miss Geach's Preparatory School, South Kensington, and Roedean School. She married William Malkin in 1913.

The young couple lived first at Coleherne Court, South Kensington, and then, from 1919, at the Barton, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Margaret Malkin was active in social welfare work, as Honorary Secretary of the Infant Welfare Centre, 1924-39, and as a councillor on Eton Rural District Council, 1931-46. She was a member of the local committee of the National Council of Women of Great Britain and, during the Second World War, was head of the Gerrards Cross branch of the Women's Voluntary Service. She was also a keen amateur artist. After the death of her husband in 1945, she continued to live at Gerrards Cross and at Corrybrough, the highland estate William Malkin inherited from his father at Tomatin, Invernessshire.