Edward Hawker

Who was Edward Hawker?

Edward Hawker was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Born the son of a naval officer in 1782, Edward Hawker was first entered in the books of a warship when just four years old. His actual seagoing service did not begin until 1792, after which he saw action in some of the early engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars. Commissioned a lieutenant at thirteen, he served with several relatives both in the West Indies and in the waters off the British coast. A commander at twenty-one, he captained his own ships at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars. Posted again to the West Indies, he endured several mishaps, including running his ship aground, and then having it struck by lightning and damaged. His travails with the weather there continued after his promotion to post-captain, including a severe hurricane that dis-masted his ship and nearly sank her.

He was a successful frigate captain in the Caribbean, capturing a number of enemy privateers, and served at the capture of Guadeloupe in 1810. Rewarded with the command of ships of the line, he spent most of his time in North American waters or the Caribbean towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars and during the War of 1812. The end of the wars after 1815 left little opportunity for active service, but Hawker briefly commanded a ship as flag captain to the Earl of Northesk, and eventually reached flag-rank himself. He spent his retirement as a correspondent for The Times, and died an admiral in 1860, one of the last surviving commanders of the wars with France.