George Charles Hawker
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Sir George Hawker Kt |
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| Chief Secretary of South Australia | |
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In office 25 March 1876 – 6 June 1876 |
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| Premier | James Boucaut |
| Preceded by | William Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Henry Ayers |
| Treasurer of South Australia | |
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In office 25 May 1875 – 3 June 1875 |
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| Premier | Arthur Blyth |
| Preceded by | Lavington Glyde |
| Succeeded by | John Colton |
| Member of the South Australian Parliament for North Adelaide |
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In office 8 April 1884 – 21 May 1895 Serving with Edward Stirling, Lewis Cohen and Richard Wood |
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| Preceded by | John Parsons |
| Succeeded by | Paddy Glynn |
| Member of the South Australian Parliament for Victoria |
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In office 22 February 1875 – 11 May 1883 Serving with John Ingleby and Lavington Glyde |
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| Preceded by | Park Laurie |
| Succeeded by | William Whinham |
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In office 5 January 1858 – 28 February 1865 Serving with Randolph Stow |
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| Preceded by | Robert Leake |
| Succeeded by | Adam Gordon |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
21 September 1818 London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 21 May 1895 (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.
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).
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.
In 1851 Hawker was a candidate for Stanley in the South Australian Legislative Council, but was defeated. 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.
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