The Hawks family (c.1750 – 1889) was one of the most powerful British industrial dynasties of the
British Industrial Revolution. The Hawks owned several companies in
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
and in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
(including Hawks and Co., Hawks, Crawshay, and Stanley, and Hawks, Crawshay and Sons) all of which had the name Hawks in the company name, and which had iron manufacture and engineering, which they exported worldwide using their own ships, as their main enterprises. The Hawks family were involved in
merchant banking
A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commod ...
, and in
freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, and in
Whig free-trade politics. They developed areas of
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...
, including
Pembroke Square, Kensington.
The Hawks reached the apogee of their power during the
Victorian period
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
, when they employed over 2000 persons, when their reputation for engineering and bridge-building was worldwide. Their
Gateshead factories were termed New Deptford and New Woolwich after the location of two of its warehouses on the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, at
Deptford
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...
and at
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...
. The company built the
High Level Bridge across the
River Tyne that was opened by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
in 1849; and numerous bridges including in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
; and lighthouses in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
; and
ironclad warships
An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...
and materials for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
; and large contracts for the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
. The Hawks produced the first
iron boat, the Vulcan, in 1821.
Notable members included Sir Robert Shafto Hawks (1768 - 1840); Joseph Hawks (1791 - 1873), merchant banker and Sheriff of Newcastle; George Hawks (1801 - 1863),
Grand Master of the Grand Cross Chapter of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem (Knights Templar); Mary Hawks (b. 1829), who was the wife of
Richard Clement Moody
Richard Clement Moody Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of France (13 February 1813 – 31 March 1887) was a British governor, engineer, architect and soldier. He is best known for being the founder and the first Lieutenant ...
, who was the founder of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
; and
Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks Moody CB (1854 - 1930), who was a distinguished
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer, and historian, and
Military Knight of Windsor
The Military Knights of Windsor, originally the Alms Knights and informally the Poor Knights, are retired military officers who receive a pension and accommodation at Windsor Castle, and who provide support for the Order of the Garter and for the ...
.
The poet
Joseph Skipsey worked for the Hawks' Gateshead ironworks, from 1859 to 1863, until one of his children was killed in an accident at the works in 1863. The job was obtained for Skipsey by the
James Thomas Clephan, who was the editor of the
Whig sympathetic ''Gateshead Observer''.
Companies
The Hawks company was established by William Hawks (1708 – 1755), who worked for
Sir Ambrose Crowley,
Sheriff of London
Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...
. In the late 1740s, Hawks established along the waste ground of the river at Gateshead a set of workshops which, when Hawks died (at Gateshead on 23 February 1755) were inherited by his eldest son, also William Hawks (bapt. 1730 - d. 1810), who, with his first wife, Elizabeth Dixon, established the Hawks' international industrial empire. William (d. 1810) in 1770 partnered with Thomas Longridge (bapt. 1751, d. 1803) and acquired a plating forge at
Beamish, County Durham
Beamish, previously named 'Pit Hill', is a village in County Durham, England, situated to the north east of Stanley.
The village is contained within Hell Hole Wood and is home to Beamish Museum, an open-air museum seeking to replicate a north ...
, which was the first of four separate metalworking sites operated by Hawks and Longridge along Beamish Burn.
In the 1780s, a forge at Lumley, in
County Durham, and slitting and rolling mills, on the
River Blyth in Northumberland, were acquired by the company.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
, Hawks family![Highlevelqueenvic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Highlevelqueenvic.png)
By 1790, the works at Gateshead consisted of a substantial industrial complex that produced steel, anchors, heavy chains, steam-engine components, and a diversity of iron wares, that were supplied to the
Board of Admiralty and were transported by the Gordon and Stanley families, the latter of whom were associated with the ordnance industry of the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
and with the dockyards of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and of the
Medway.
The Hawks family also owned the
Bedlington Ironworks
Bedlington Ironworks, in Blyth Dene, Northumberland, England, operated between 1736 and 1867. It is most remembered as the place where wrought iron rails were invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820, which triggered the railway age, with their fir ...
during this period.
The Hawks Company built Hawks Cottages in the 1830s in the Saltmeadows district of Gateshead for its workers.
![HMSWarrior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/HMSWarrior.JPG)
On 4 December 1810, the estate of William Hawks was inherited by his surviving sons: George Hawks (1766 – 1820) of Blackheath, and Sir Robert Shafto Hawks (1768 – 1840), and John Hawks (1770 – 1830).
The Hawks' factories covered 44 acres by the end of the 1830s, and employed between 800 and 900 people.
At the time of the visit of the British Association to Newcastle in 1863, it employed 1500 people, and owned 92 marine engines and 58 land engines, which together provided 5000 horse power, and 33 puddling furnaces. The poet
Joseph Skipsey worked for the Hawks' Gateshead ironworks, from 1859 to 1863, until one of his children was killed in an accident at the works in 1863. The job was obtained for Skipsey by the
James Thomas Clephan, who was the editor of the
Whig sympathetic ''Gateshead Observer''.
The Hawks' New Greenwich
ironworks at
Gateshead was Newcastle's largest employer until its closure when Hawks, Crawshay, and Sons was liquidated in 1889.
Specific Products
The Vulcan
The first iron boat to be built, which was a rowing boat that was named the Vulcan, was constructed, in 1821, at the Hawks's ironworks. When Sir Robert Shafto Hawks was informed of the purpose for which Samuel Tyne, the boat's inventor, had purchased iron from the Hawks company, he proffered for free the iron required for the task. Sir Robert arranged for cannons to be fired at the launch of the boat, which subsequently won races against wooden boats of the same capacity. However, on
Ascension Day, 1826, when, laden with 12 persons including the rowers of the Vulcan, a boat that accompanied the Mayor's barge was hit by a steam vessel, two of the Vulcan's rowers were killed, and the Vulcan was subsequently abandoned.
Products
The Hawks company during about 1842 erected a cast-iron bridge at
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, which spans the river
Ouse in one arch of 172 feet in width. The company also reconstructed the
Rowland Burdon iron bridge at
Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, which consists of a single arch of a width of 237 feet. The company also constructed the wrought iron gates for the
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
Docks; and the iron lighthouses at
Gunfleet, and at
Harwich, and at
Calais; and the iron pier at
Madras. The company also built bridges in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. Sir Robert Hawks financed the construction of
St John's Church, Gateshead Fell. The company built the
High Level Bridge over the Tyne, which consisted of 5050 tons of iron, of which George Hawks drove in the last key on 7 June 1849, and which
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
opened later that year.
![Highlevelroadway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Highlevelroadway.png)
The company produced
ironclad warships
An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...
and other materials for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, and large contracts for the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
, and paddle steamers and hydraulic dredgers for use within Britain.
Property
The Hawks family developed also developed areas of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, including
Pembroke Square, Kensington.
Notable members
Sir Robert Shafto Hawks (1768 - 1840)
Robert Shafto Hawks became the director of the Hawks company subsequent to the death of his father, and was knighted by the
Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...
, in 1817, for his suppression of riots.
Shafto Hawks was involved in
freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
in which he served as Worshipful Master of the oldest lodge in Northumberland. Shafto Hawks is commemorated in
Newcastle Cathedral
Newcastle Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, is a Church of England cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Newcastle and is the mother church of the Diocese of Newcastle. ...
, and with a portrait in
Shipley Art Gallery
The Shipley Art Gallery is an art gallery in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, located at the south end of Prince Consort Road. It has a Designated Collection of national importance.
Origins
The Shipley Art Gallery opened to the public in 1 ...
. Sir Robert in 1790 married Hannah Pembroke Akenhead (1766 - 1863) by whom he had two sons: one of whom, William, entered the church; the other of whom, David, who was blind, was a
musical prodigy
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer. This is a list of young children (under age 10) who displayed a ...
who when aged 9 years composed published marches for military bands, and composed
Tyrolean, and
Scottish, and
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
airs. David Hawks was said to have 'a most amazing proof of musical genius and early proficiency' when he was 17 years of age, and to be a 'true musical genius'.
George Hawks (1801 - 1863)
Sir Robert's nephew George Hawks (1801 – 1863), , of Redheugh Hall, succeeded Sir Robert as director of the Hawks company. George Hawks was a vehement supporter of
Sir William Hutt MP, who was MP for Gateshead from 1841,
and who campaigned to have George Hawks knighted. Redheugh Hall was one of the centres of
Whiggism
Whiggism (in North America sometimes spelled Whigism) is a political philosophy that grew out of the Parliamentarian faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651). The Whigs' key policy positions were the supremacy of Parliament (as ...
in the north east of England.
George Hawks served as the first
Mayor of Gateshead in 1836, and, subsequently, in the same office again in 1848 and in 1849.
George Hawks was extensively involved in
freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, in which he served as
Grand Master of the Grand Cross Chapter of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem
(Knights Templar), and as Past Master of the Lodge of Newcastle upon Tyne, and as Deputy of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Northumberland, and a Full Affiliated Member of The Celtic Lodge of Edinburgh and Leith No. 291. Hawks, who had been made a
freemason in Guernsey, was described as 'an excellent mason'.
Joseph Hawks (1791 - 1873)
Joseph Stanley Hawks, , of Jesmond House, Newcastle upon Tyne, was the son of George Hawks of Blackheath (1766 -1820), who was the brother of Sir Robert Shafto Hawks.
Joseph Stanley Hawks was a
merchant banker
A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...
who served as
Sheriff of Newcastle. He married Mary Elizabeth Boyd, who was the daughter of William Boyd of the Boyd
merchant banking
A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commod ...
family which had founded the Bank of Newcastle, and who was the brother of the industrialist
Edward Fenwick Boyd
Edward Fenwick Boyd (30 August 1810 – 31 August 1889) was an English industrialist who became the fourth President of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME). He held a leading role in the Mining Institute ...
. William Boyd was a descendant of
Sir Francis Liddell;
and of
Sir Thomas Liddell, 1st Baronet, (whose family governed the
North of England in the 16th and 17th centuries); and of Frances or Francisca Forster (d. 1675) (who had been the wife of Nicholas Forster of
Bamburgh Castle
Bamburgh Castle is a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed building.
The site was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as ''Din Guarie'' and may have ...
); and of
Sir William Chaytor of Croft.
Mary Hawks (later Moody) (b. 1829)
Joseph's daughter, Mary Susannah Hawks, married
Major-General Richard Clement Moody, who was the founder of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, by whom her children included Josephine 'Zeffie' Moody, who married Arthur Newall,
who was the son of
Robert Stirling Newall
Robert Stirling Newall FRS FRAS (27 May 1812 – 21 April 1889) was a Scottish engineer and astronomer.
Life and work
Born at Dundee on 27 May 1812, Newall began work in a local mercantile office before leaving for London, where, in the emplo ...
, who was a business associate of the Hawks family. Richard Clement Moody named the 400-foot hill in
Port Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam ( ) is a city in British Columbia, Canada. Located east of Vancouver, it is on the north bank of the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders it on the north, the Coquitlam River borders it on the west, ...
, "Mary Hill", after his wife Mary. The Royal British Columbia Museum possesses a trove of 42 letters that were written by Mary Moody from the
Colony of British Columbia (1858–66) The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada:
*Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)
*Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871)
See also
*History of Br ...
to her mother and to her sister, Emily Hawks, who were in England, that have been of interest to scholars of the ruling class of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
.
Richard Stanley Hawks Moody (1854 - 1930)
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Richard Stanley Hawks Moody was a distinguished
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer, and historian, and
Military Knight of Windsor
The Military Knights of Windsor, originally the Alms Knights and informally the Poor Knights, are retired military officers who receive a pension and accommodation at Windsor Castle, and who provide support for the Order of the Garter and for the ...
.
Decline
Hannah, Lady Hawks (d. 1863), who was the widow of Sir Robert Shafto Hawks, and her two sons, sold their shares, in 1840, to George Crawshay, who was a member of a prominent iron-making family of south Wales, who had been bought out of his family's iron business in London by his brother
William Crawshay II
William Crawshay II (27 March 1788 – 4 August 1867) was the son of William Crawshay I, the owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
William Crawshay II became an ironmaster when he took over the business from his father. He wa ...
. The business of William Hawks was divided between his three eldest surviving sons in 1810. George Crawshay obtained a second third of the company when he acquired the shares of Joseph Hawks, who was the only surviving son of George Hawks of Blackheath. The Bedlington works were subsequently inherited by a cousin of the Hawks, Michael Longridge (1785 – 1853), who was a pioneer of railway technology, and who was an associate of
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
, under whose superintendence they trained a generation of engineers including
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...
.
The manager of Hawks, Crawshay and Sons during its last years was George Crawshay (1821 – 1896), who was the son of the elder George Crawshay. Like George Hawks, George Crawshay became sociopolitically influential, but, unlike George Hawks, Crawshay's management of the Hawks' company was incompetent: Crawshay failed to modernize the company, from manufacture of diverse products by diverse processes, to enable its successful competition with specialist companies, such as those owned by
William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor ...
and by the nail manufacturer William Galloway, whose profits increased as those of Hawks and Crawshay declined
until their liquidated their company in 1889, when all of its creditors were fully recompensed and its archive was destroyed.
References
Further reading
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*{{cite web, url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U214312, title=Entry for MOODY, Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks, in ''Who Was Who'' (A & C Black, Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016)
English families
People of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial history of England