| Colonel
Peter Hawker |
|
|
| Hawker's Cottage was
the Keyhaven home of Colonel Peter Hawker.
As a young soldier in the Spanish Peninsular War he served
with distinction under Wellington, but was obliged to retire
after being seriously wounded at the battle of Talavera in
1809. His injury did not deter him from the pursuit of country sports,
his book “Advice to Young Sportsmen”, first published
in 1814, is still regarded as one of the best introductions
to young people taking up shooting or fishing. The book was also published in America in 1847.
Hawker built his home
in Keyhaven in 1818 (next to the Gun Inn) and used it as a
winter base for his wildfowling activities in the marshland
between Keyhaven and Lymington. His permanent home was in Longparish near
Aldershot.
|
| |
 |
Colonel Peter Hawker
1786-1853
Married twice and had two sons (the elder son died in infancy) and two daughters by his first wife, Julia Barttelot.
Following Julia's death in 1844 Hawker then married Helen Symonds. |
|
Hawker had a wide range of interests, besides being a keen shot and an active sportsman he was also an accomplished musician, studying the piano under Henri Bertini in Paris. He regularly played the organ at his local church and devised a patented device, “hand moulds” to assist the teaching of the piano. He was
acquainted with many of the celebrated pianists and opera singers
of his day.
He kept a diary for most of his life (published in 2 volumes),
the contents are mostly a day-by-day account of his wildfowling (3) exploits, although there are some fascinating accounts of his
journeys to the Continent both before and after the fall of
Napoleon. Unfortunately after his death in 1853 his family
destroyed the personal extracts which made up a large part
of the diary.
(1) Thomas Inman bought what is now the Berthon Boatyard,
Lymington in 1819
(2) Sir Charles Lyell, geological tutor of Charles Darwin
wrote, that "In the great storm of November 1824, this
bank of shingle (Hurst Spit) was moved bodily forward
for forty yards towards the northeast".
(3) Wildfowling - a
popular sport in the Victorian times involves shooting wild
duck and geese on marshes and foreshores, the season runs
from the beginning of September to the middle of February. |
| |
| Read it online (Be aware, the diary is mostly about his wildfowling activities!) |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
