Sir John Prescott Hewett, (25 August 1854 – 27 September 1941) was a British Indian civil servant who served as Lieutenant Governor of the

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...

and later as a Conservative MP for

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

Early life

Hewett was born in Barham, Kent, son of Rev. John Hewett, vicar of

Babbacombe Babbacombe is a district of Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for Babbacombe Model Village, the Babbacombe Theatre and its clifftop green, Babbacombe Downs, from which Oddicombe Beach is accessed via Babbacombe Cliff Railway. Frequent bu ...

, Torquay, and his wife, Anna Louisa Lyster, daughter of Captain William Hammon and Mary Bellingham. Hewett was older brother of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

George Hayley Hewett George Hayley Hewett, (12 November 1855 – 7 October 1930) was a British naval officer in the Royal Indian Navy who rose to become Director of the Royal Indian Marine. Hewett was also the brother of the colonial administrator and Member of Parl ...

RN, his father Rev. John Hewett was the nephew of Sir Prescott Gardner Hewett, 1st Baronet and the first-cousin of Vice-Admiral Sir William Nathan Wrighte Hewett. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

.Wainewright, John Bannerman (ed).
Winchester College 1836–1906: A Register
'. P. and G. Wells, 1907, p. 208

Biography

Hewett joined the Indian Civil Service in 1875 and worked in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

, Bulandshahr and

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

. He enjoyed travel and hunting in the Himalayan

terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scr ...

and later wrote on his hunting. In 1898 he was a member of the Indian plague commission. In 1902 Lord Curzon posted him as acting chief commissioner to the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. ...

, and he was confirmed in the post in 1903. He was involved in famine relief during 1907 and was knighted in the same year. He was posted lieutenant governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in the same year and helped develop industry in the region. He was keen on vocational education and obtained funds for establishing an agricultural college in

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

and organized a trade exhibition in 1910. He was a conservative who preferred Indian peasants as workers rather than be swayed by Western-educated Indians in the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. He tried to persuade John Morley to go slow on reforms to allow Indians in the civil service. In 1911 he was relieved from his position as governor and sent to Delhi to organize the

coronation durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was ...

of King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

and Queen Mary. He retired in 1912, but continued to invest in tea and rubber companies across the colonies. He served as the founding chairman of the governing body of the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

in London. In 1918 he was sent to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

to examine the move to a civilian rule there. He angered Lord Montagu by speaking to the army officers there against the proposed reform and removal of military rule. He became the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

as a Unionist in 1922, but lost it in 1923. He continued to make hunting trips to India.

Personal life

Hewett married Ethel Charlotte, daughter of Henry Binny Webster in 1879. They had three children: * Mabel Ada Hewett, married Anthony Courage in July 1903 in

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

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 of ...

Henry Micklam Prescott Hewett of the

1st Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgama ...

* Lorna Ethel Hewett He wrote ''Jungle Trails in Northern India'' (1938) which was autobiographical in which he appeared to avoid mention of his wife. Lord Curzon had suggested conflict in the household. His daughter Lorna, undertook a trek in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

in 1921 and was a keen outdoors woman was featured in his book. Hewett died at his home ''The Court House'',

Chipping Warden Chipping Warden is a village in Northamptonshire, England about northeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury. The parish is bounded to the east and south by the River Cherwell, to the west by the boundary with Oxfordshire and to the north by f ...

and was buried there.

References

Sources

*Craig, FWS ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918'' *'' Whitaker's Almanack'', 1923 and 1924 editions

External links

* Jungle trails in Northern India reminiscences of hunting in India (1938) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewett, John Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of Luton 1854 births 1941 deaths Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire