Sir Christopher Hawkins, 1st Baronet
FRS (29 May 1758 – 6 April 1829) was a
Cornish landowner, mine-owner,
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
Member of Parliament, and patron of steam power. He was
Recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
of
Grampound
Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...
, of
Tregony
Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...
, and of
St Ives, Cornwall.
The Hawkins family
Christopher Hawkins was the second son of Thomas Hawkins of Trewithen, a considerable landowner and former MP for
Grampound
Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...
. Thomas Hawkins had a lifelong fear of
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
and died following an inoculation to prevent it. Christopher's elder brother John was drowned in the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
whilst at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
, whilst a younger brother Thomas died "of a fever in consequence of eating an ice-cream after dancing." His youngest brother,
John Hawkins
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, survived and became a noted geologist. On his father's death in 1766, Christopher inherited his estates.
Career as MP
Hawkins was appointed
High Sheriff of Cornwall
Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list:
The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, ot ...
for 1783. He then followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a member of parliament at the age of 26. He subsequently earned notoriety as the leading commoner engaged in 'boroughmongering', the purchase and sale of
rotten boroughs
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electora ...
, parliamentary constituencies that had very few electors and as a result could be bought and sold through patronage, influence, and straightforward bribery. At his peak, Hawkins wholly or partly controlled six such boroughs, each returning two MPs, giving him the ability to ensure the successful election of candidates in return for cash or favours. He normally reserved these seats for government (Tory party) supporters.
[R. G. Thorne, ''The House of Commons 1790–1820'', Vol. 3, 1986 ]
He himself was MP for several of his own Cornish boroughs, namely
Grampound
Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...
from 1800 to 1807,
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
from 1784 to 1799 and again from 1806 to 1807,
Penryn from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1818 to 1820, and
St Ives from 1821 to 1828. His appearances in the chamber of the house were not memorable. He appears to have spoken just four times: once very briefly in 1807, when charged with bribery he left "his case entirely to the justice and liberality of the house", twice in 1819 with regard to the Penryn Bribery Bill, when, according to
Hansard
''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...
, he was on both occasions "quite inaudible", and once in 1827 when he was "totally inaudible".
Later scandal
Following the 1806 Penryn election, Hawkins was found guilty of bribery by a parliamentary committee and dispossessed of his seat, but unusually was not barred from the House. Since he had also been elected MP for Grampound and for Mitchell, he remained in the House of Commons, albeit under considerable censure. The
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
had been asked to take up the charge and Hawkins was sent for trial at
Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
Assize Court in 1808, but was there acquitted. The political reformer
William Cobbett
William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
attended and reported on the trial, and was less than impressed by its outcome. In 1810, the bribery charge and ensuing bad feeling led to Hawkins fighting a duel with his fellow boroughmonger and former
Whig MP for Penryn
Lord Dunstanville.
[ Neither party was injured.
Hawkins earned himself a reputation as a miser and it was claimed that, to reduce election expenses, he pulled down the houses of electors on his land thus depriving them of the right to vote. In this way, he was said to have reduced the number of electors at Mitchell to three.][
]
Father of the House
For his loyal service to the Tory government, he was created a baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in 1791 by William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
and by the time of his death had become Father of the House
Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...
.[Obituary, ''Gentleman's Magazine'' Vol. 99(1), p. 564, 1829]
Land and mine-owner
Sir Christopher inherited considerable estates from his father, but assiduously purchased additional land, eventually claiming that he could "ride from one side of Cornwall to the other without setting hoof on another man's soil."
He bought well over a dozen manors, many of them – such as the manors of Grampound, of Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
, and of St Ives – to gain possession of rotten boroughs.[ F. Hitchins & S. Drew, ''The History of Cornwall'', vol. 2 (1824)]
He acquired the manors of Cargoll and of Trelundra to further his interests in Mitchell, but whilst attempting to improve some wasteland in Cargoll by deep-ploughing, lead ore was discovered. Sir Christopher set up the Old Shepherds Mine to exploit the lead and found additional silver, making the mine a considerable source of profit before it closed in 1820. In 1818 he opened a copper and tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
mine at St Ives, later known as St Ives Consols. At his stream works at Ladock
Ladock ( kw, Egloslajek) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about six miles (9.5 km) north-east of Truro.
Historically, Ladock was two small settlements; Bissick by the river and Ladock on the hill. No ...
, near Grampound, gold was found as well as tin. A specimen of Ladock gold was presented to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world ...
by Sir Christopher, who also published observations on the find in their ''Transactions''. Sir Christopher was a partner in the Cornish Copper Company which established a smelting works at Copperhouse, built a canal to Hayle
Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...
and extended the harbour there to export metal and import coal, timber, and other goods.[ He owned ]china clay
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
mines in the 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 ...
area and substantially rebuilt the harbour at Pentewan
Pentewan ( kw, Bentewyn, meaning ''foot of the radiant stream'') is a coastal village and former port in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at south of St Austell at the mouth of the St Austell River.
Pentewan is in ...
to serve as a china clay port, connected to St Austell by the Pentewan Railway
The Pentewan Railway was a Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge railway in Cornwall, England. It was built as a horse-drawn tramway carrying Kaolinite, china clay from St Austell to a new harbour at Pentewan, and was opened in 1829. In 1874 the ...
, a horse-drawn tramway.
Sir Christopher obtained the post of Vice Lord Warden of the Stannaries
The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from la, stannum for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, h ...
, giving him considerable influence and control over mines and mining in Cornwall.[
]
Trewithen House and gardens
The family home of Trewithen, near Probus, was purchased by Philip Hawkins of Trewinnard in 1715 and substantially and grandly rebuilt. His nephew, Sir Christopher's father, inherited the house in 1738 and was responsible for much of its landscaping. Sir Christopher, known locally as "Sir Kit", extended the grounds but added little to the house, reinforcing his reputation as a miser among his local tenants. The following verse was said to have been fixed to the gates of Trewithen:[
:A large house, and no cheer,
:A large park, and no deer,
:A large cellar, and no beer,
:Sir Christopher Hawkins lives here.
Trewithen House, now a ]Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, is still privately owned by a family descendant. It houses a portrait of Sir Christopher and is open to the public.[ The dairy farm at Trewithen supplies milk for the production of the ice cream made by Kelly's of Cornwall in Bodmin.
]
The garden at Trewithen was made by G. H. Johnstone VMH; it covers about 23 acres and is noted for its design and for the large collection of camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons.
Patron of steam, horticulture, and antiquarian pursuits
Sir Christopher was a Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
, of what was to become the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
, and of the Antiquarian Society
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...
.[ He was also a life subscriber to the ]Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
.
In 1811 he published a short book entitled ''Observations on the Tin Trade of the Ancients in Cornwall'', concerning his theories on the involvement of the Phoenicians
Phoenicia () was an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient thalassocracy, thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-st ...
in the mining and trading of Cornish tin.
Sir Christopher was a patron and supporter of the Cornish steam pioneer Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...
and in 1812 commissioned from him the world's first steam threshing machine
A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out.
Before such machines were developed, threshi ...
, powered by a "semi-portable" barn engine. The machine continued in use till the 1880s and has been preserved by the Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...
in London.
In 1813, he brought the Cornish Gillyflower apple, found in a cottage garden in Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
, to the attention of the Royal Horticultural Society who awarded him a silver medal "for his exertions". The apple is still grown today and is commercially available.
Sir Christopher never married. On his death, his estate passed to his youngest brother, John, and then to his nephew, Christopher Henry Thomas Hawkins.[
]
In fiction
He is a recurring character in the Poldark novels
''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, published from 1945 to 1953 and continued from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was adapted twice f ...
by Winston Graham
Winston Mawdsley Graham OBE, born Winston Grime (30 June 1908 – 10 July 2003), was an English novelist best known for the Poldark series of historical novels set in Cornwall, though he also wrote numerous other works, including contemporary ...
, where he is depicted as a corrupt and cynical boroughmonger, but generous to his friends.
References
External links
*
Findagrave.com memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Christopher
1758 births
1829 deaths
Tory MPs (pre-1834)
Politicians from Cornwall
British MPs 1784–1790
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806
UK MPs 1806–1807
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
Fellows of the Royal Society
High Sheriffs of Cornwall
MPs for rotten boroughs
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Misers
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Mitchell
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Grampound
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Grampound
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Penryn
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for St Ives