Colonel Peter Hawker

Peter Hawker
An engraving of Peter Hawker c.1814 by H. Adlard, from a portrait by Alfred Edward Chalon
Born	November 1786 London
Died	August 1853 London
Nationality	British
Occupation	Gentleman
Known for	Diarist, Sportsman, Soldier, shootist.

Colonel Peter Hawker (24 November 1786 – 7 August 1853) was a celebrated diarist, author and sportsman accounted one of the "Great Shots" of the 19th Century. His sporting exploits were widely followed and, on occasion, considered worthy of report in The Times. Born in London to Colonel Peter Ryves Hawker and Mary Wilson Hawker (née Yonge) he was educated at Eton and then entered military service in 1801 with the purchase of a commission as a cornet in The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons), soon gaining a promotion to captain. Hawker notes in his diary that: "I was a Captain of Dragoons soon after I was seventeen years old, but paid dearer for it than anyone in the service."

Hawker served with the 14th Light Dragoons under the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War. He led his squadron during the Battle of Douro (6 May 1809), his regiment thereby earning the battle honour "Douro" for its colours. He received a serious thigh wound during the following Battle of Talavera (28 July 1809) and was consequently declared unfit and so resigned and sold his commission. Hawker was awarded a modest pension of £100 per annum (approximately equivalent to £3500 a year in 2005) in recognition of his service. Despite his injuries, and consequent ill health, he was later (in 1815) able to accept an active commission as major of the North Hampshire Militia; he was recommended for the post by the then Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne and future King William IV. Hawker was made lieutenant-colonel of the militia 1821 and ultimately became deputy lieutenant for his county.

Hawker is best known today for his published works on the sports of shooting, wildfowling and fishing. Hawker published his "Advice to Young Sportsmen" in 1814, a popular work having nine imprints in his lifetime with the latest paper edition printed in 1975. Forty years after Hawker's death an Australian book reviewer states that "Probably no book on the subject of sport ever enjoyed so wide or so long sustained a popularity as the Instructions to Young Sportsmen". Hawker kept a regular diary (published in abridged form) which contains observations of pre and post-Napoleonic Europe, wildfowling, game-bird shooting and details of hunting techniques and conditions prevalent in the late 18th and early 19th Century. His diary, printed in two volumes, was also a popular work with the last paper edition printed in 1988.