John Francis Yaxley Birmingham, England, spent his career as a civil servant in the UK Colonial Office

Colonial Office

Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...

. He was the eldest son of Canon Robert William Yaxley and Dorothy (nee Archer).

Yaxley served in Vanuatu (formerly The New Hebrides

New Hebrides

New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...

), the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 (formerly The British Solomon Islands Protectorate) and Hong Kong. He carried out the first census of the New Hebrides with Norma MacArthur in 1967, and subsequently reported on it.

He held the office of Deputy Financial Secretary to the Treasury Bureau

Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau

Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau or FSTB is a part of the twelve policy bureaux for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They are responsible for developing and executing government policy on finance and treasury. The agency is establish on 1 July 2002...

 under Colonial Hong Kong, 16 March 1987 -March 1989. Also in his time in Hong Kong he acted as secretary for Trade and Industry and Financial Secretary.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours.