Richard Hannay of the Second World War, Buchan's last novel, "Sick Heart River" (published just after the author died in 1940) offers a hint about Hannay's future: dying in Canada, Hannay's friend Sir Edward Leithen hears of the outbreak of war in Europe and guesses that many of his old friends, including Hannay, will have taken up arms again. Richard Hannay Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film "The 39 Steps" (and other later film adaptations), very loosely based
Hannay baronets of Girthon, Kirkcudbright. m. 4 Nov. 1760, Mary, da. of Robert Meade, MD, of Teddington, Mdx., 5s. 4da. suc. e. bro. Col. Alexander Hannay, E.I. Co. service 1782. Served heir to Sir Robert Hannay, 1st Bt. (d.1658) (a baronetcy dormant since the death of the 2nd Bt. in 1689) 26 Sept. 1783. Hannay, who combined the lives of an eminent London drug merchant and a Scottish baronet with considerable East Indian investments, was also addicted to gambling, and apparently went through several fortunes. From 1765 onwards, Hannay appears merely as a merchant; but in 1790 in partnership with William Duncan