George Charles Hawker

Sir
George Hawker
Kt
Chief Secretary of South Australia
In office
25 March 1876  6 June 1876
Premier James Boucaut
Preceded by William Morgan
Succeeded by Henry Ayers
Treasurer of South Australia
In office
25 May 1875  3 June 1875
Premier Arthur Blyth
Preceded by Lavington Glyde
Succeeded by John Colton
Member of the South Australian Parliament
for North Adelaide
In office
8 April 1884  21 May 1895
Serving with Edward Stirling, Lewis Cohen and Richard Wood
Preceded by John Parsons
Succeeded by Paddy Glynn
Member of the South Australian Parliament
for Victoria
In office
22 February 1875  11 May 1883
Serving with John Ingleby and Lavington Glyde
Preceded by Park Laurie
Succeeded by William Whinham
In office
5 January 1858  28 February 1865
Serving with Randolph Stow
Preceded by Robert Leake
Succeeded by Adam Gordon
Personal details
Born (1818-09-21)21 September 1818
London, United Kingdom
Died 21 May 1895(1895-05-21) (aged 76)
Medindie, South Australia
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Seymour

George Charles Hawker (21 September 1818 – 21 May 1895) was an Australian settler and South Australian politician.

Early life

Hawker was born in London, the second son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi, née Poore. He was educated partly on the continent, and he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1836 (B.A.1841, M.A. 1854).[1][2]

Career in Australia

Together with his brother Charles, Hawker went to South Australia in 1840 travelling aboard the Lysander. He had some capital to start with, and after trying two sites which were found to have insufficient water, established a sheep station some distance to the north of Adelaide (north of the Clare Valley), afterwards known as Bungaree. He had two brothers with him at first and all three soon adapted themselves to pioneer conditions; some of the early station buildings in fact were put up with their own hands. In 1841 they were members of a party of 10 that went out to reclaim a large number of sheep that had fallen into the hands of the aborigines. The aborigines heavily outnumbered them and they were fortunate in escaping with the loss of one horse with one member of their party wounded. Hawker eventually bought out his brothers and extended his land until he had some 80,000 acres (32,000 ha). Much attention was paid to the breeding of his sheep, and his wool gained a high reputation.[3]

In 1851 Hawker was a candidate for Stanley in the South Australian Legislative Council, but was defeated.[2] In January 1858 Hawker entered the South Australian House of Assembly as member for the district of Victoria, and in April 1860, though a comparatively young man and opposed by Boyle Travers Finniss and Francis Stacker Dutton, was elected Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. He was successful in this position carrying out its duties with tact and dignity, and showing a good knowledge of parliamentary practice. He retired from parliament in 1865, went to England with his family, and did not return until 1874. He again entered parliament and, except for a few months, was a member until his death. He was twice asked to form a ministry and declined on each occasion, but several times held office. He was Treasurer of South Australia in the third Arthur Blyth ministry for a few days in 1875, and chief secretary in the second James Penn Boucaut ministry from March to June 1876. He was commissioner of public works in the third Boucaut ministry from October 1877 to September 1878, and held the same position in the William Morgan ministry until June 1881. In 1889 he visited India to inquire into the irrigation question, and on his return wrote a series of articles on this subject which appeared in the South Australian Register. He died on 21 May 1895 in Medindie; if he had lived a few days longer he would have been created K.C.M.G.; his widow's appeal for a posthumous award was approved by the Queen in September 1895, and she was known as Lady Hawker until her death.

Hawker held a leading position as a citizen of South Australia. Wealthy, and a good employer, he was much interested in the every day life of the colony, a follower of cricket, racing, and coursing, a supporter of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society (and its president from 1863 to 1864 and 1889 to 1890), and the Zoological Society. He was much respected in parliament through his long career of 26 years. In his earlier days Hawker was an excellent speaker who sometimes rose to eloquence, as an old man he contented himself with short speeches, which were, however, much to the point. He showed distinct administrative ability during his term as commissioner of public works.[3]

Family

George Charles Hawker, 1865

On 16 December 1845, George married Elizabeth,[4] daughter of Henry Seymour, pastoralist at Naracoorte. Known as Bessie, her younger sister Jane married in 1856 to pastoralist and politician William Spence Peter. Having survived her husband, Bessie was granted the rank of the widow of a knight. Lady Hawker died in June 1901.[5] They had six sons and six daughters.[3]

  • A grandson, Charles Allan Seymour Hawker (1894–1938), was a South Australian member of the Commonwealth House of Representatives from 1929 to 1938 and a member of the Lyons government.[3]
  • Trevor Hawker, of Western Australia
  • John Hawker, of Anama stud
  • Mrs. R. M. Gault of Medindie
  • Doris Philippa Hawker married Gordon Howard McFarlane on 19 April 1911.[8]

His brother James Collins Hawker (ca.1821–1901) was to become Comptroller of Customs at Port Adelaide and married Louisa, daughter of Captain Lipson. Their daughter Elizabeth married land agent John James Neville Blyth, son of Arthur Blyth.

References

  1. "Hawker, George Charles (HWKR836GC)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. 1 2 'Hawker, George Charles (1818–1895)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 360-361. Retrieved 1 February 2009
  3. 1 2 3 4 Serle, Percival (1949). "Hawker, George Charles". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  4. Mennell, Philip (1892). "Wikisource link to Hawker, Hon. George Charles". The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co. Wikisource
  5. "Obituaries". The Times (36481). London. 14 June 1901. p. 10.
  6. "Death of Mr. M. S. Hawker". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 3 August 1933. p. 8. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  7. "Out Among the People". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 21 February 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  8. "Family Notices.". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 22 April 1911. p. 12. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  9. Dirk van Dissel, Mary E. B. van Dissel, 'Hawker, Bertram Robert (1868–1952)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, Melbourne University Press, 1996, pp 410-411.
Parliament of South Australia
Preceded by
Robert Leake
Member of Parliament for Victoria
1858  1865
Served alongside:
Randolph Stow
Succeeded by
Adam Gordon
Preceded by
Park Laurie
Member of Parliament for Victoria
1875  1883
Served alongside:
John Ingleby, Lavington Glyde
Succeeded by
William Whinham
Preceded by
John Parsons
Member of Parliament for North Adelaide
1884  1895
Served alongside:
Edward Stirling, Lewis Cohen, Richard Wood
Succeeded by
Paddy Glynn
Political offices
Preceded by
William Morgan
Chief Secretary of South Australia
1870
Succeeded by
Henry Ayers
Preceded by
Lavington Glyde
Treasurer of South Australia
1875
Succeeded by
John Colton
Preceded by
John Colton
Commissioner of Public Works
1876
Succeeded by
James Ramsay
South Australian House of Assembly
Preceded by
George Kingston
Speaker of the
South Australian House of Assembly

1860 – 1865
Succeeded by
George Kingston
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