Nicholas Hawken (1 January 1836 – 13 July 1908) was an English-born Australian politician. Hawken was born at

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

to William Hawken and Phillipa Harding. He was educated locally and migrated to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1854, working in the

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses t ...

area. In 1855 he settled in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, going into business as a produce merchant. On 24 July 1861 he married Mary Jane Vance. They had thirteen children, the eleventh of whom was the engineer

Roger Hawken Roger William Hercules Hawken (12 May 1878 – 18 October 1947), an Australian engineer, was the first lecturer in civil engineering, and then a professor, at the University of Queensland. Personal life Hawken was born at Darlington, New So ...

(1878–1947). A long-serving

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

alderman, Hawken was mayor from 1881 to 1883. In 1887 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as the

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

member for Newtown. He served until his defeat in 1891. In 1899 Hawken was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, where he served until his death and was reportedly a "ready and forcible debater". For example, in 1890 he had made a spirited defence in Parliament of the new and controversial sculptures on Sydney's

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

. Hawken died at his home "The Gables" in

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...

, Darlington in 1908, leaving "a number of literary productions", among which were some verse and some works on political subjects. His estate was valued for probate at £14,650. The surviving remains of one of his firm's buildings, the

Hawken and Vance Produce Exchange Hawken and Vance Produce Exchange is a heritage-listed commercial building facade at 95–99 Sussex Street, Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was built in 1883, with the remainder of the building apart from the facade bei ...

, are listed on the

New South Wales Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawken, Nicholas 1836 births 1908 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Free Trade Party politicians 19th-century Australian politicians