Baron Hawke

Baron Hawke, "of Towton" in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 20 May 1776 for the admiral Sir Edward Hawke (of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Towton), responsible for a blockade of all French merchant shipping and the grounding of six French ships, and scattering of the rest, at the Battle of Quiberon Bay. The battle followed an earlier British victory at the Battle of Lagos off Portugal by a fleet under another Admiral's command.

The coat of arms of the Barons Hawke, as used in the family memorial of 1781.

The year, 1759, was dubbed for Britain its Annus Mirabilis, or 'miracle year', as France could not follow up on clear victory in the Battle of Sainte-Foy just before the Siege of Quebec for want of reinforcements and supplies from France, and its crippled trade triggered a credit crunch. Hawke's naval conduct then and later as Lord Admiral proved to establish British naval supremacy and in the immediate term determined the fate of New France and hence Canada.[1]

His son, the second Baron, represented Saltash in the House of Commons for the six years until his father died. His son, the third Baron, assumed the additional surname of Harvey. The fifth Baron succeeded his elder brother in 1869 and in the next year was succeeded by his first cousin, the sixth Baron. He was the son of Hon. Martin Bladen Edward Hawke (Jnr). His son, the seventh Baron, an exceptional cricketer, became the England cricket team captain. On his death the title passed to his younger brother, the eighth Baron. His elder son, the ninth Baron, was one of six to eight co-serving Lords whips in the third Churchill ministry and two following Conservative ministries until 1964. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the tenth Baron, whose son then became the 11th Baron on his death. As of 2017, the title is held by the 12th Baron, who succeeded his father in 2009.

The family seat is The Old Mill House, near Cuddington, Cheshire.

Barons Hawke (1776)

• Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke (1705–1781)
• Martin Bladen Hawke, 2nd Baron Hawke (1744–1805)
• Edward Hawke-Harvey, 3rd Baron Hawke (1774–1824)
• Edward William Hawke-Harvey, 4th Baron Hawke (1799–1869)
• Stanhope Hawke-Harvey, 5th Baron Hawke (1804–1870)
• Edward Henry Julius Hawke, 6th Baron Hawke (1815–1887)
• Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (1860–1938)
• Edward Julian Hawke, 8th Baron Hawke (1873–1939)
• Bladen Wilmer Hawke, 9th Baron Hawke (1901–1985)
• Julian Stanhope Theodore Hawke, 10th Baron Hawke (1904–1992)
• Edward George Hawke, 11th Baron Hawke (1950–2009)
• William Martin Theodore Hawke, 12th Baron Hawke (born 1995)

There is currently no heir to the barony.

Male-line family tree

Male-line family tree, Barons Hawke.

Edward Hawke 1st Baron Hawke 1705–1781 Martin Hawke 2nd Baron Hawke 1744–1805 Edward Hawke-Harvey 3rd Baron Hawke 1774–1824 Hon. Martin Hawke 1777–1839 Edward Hawke-Harvey 4th Baron Hawke 1799–1869 Stanhope Hawke-Harvey 5th Baron Hawke 1804–1870 Hon. Martin Hawke-Harvey 1806–1857 Edward Hawke 6th Baron Hawke 1815–1887 Hon. Edward Hawke 1859–1871 Martin Hawke 7th Baron Hawke 1860–1938 Adm. Hon. Stanhope Hawke 1863–1936 Hon. Bladen Hawke 1865–1875 Hon. Harold Hawke 1867–1913 Edward Hawke 8th Baron Hawke 1873–1939 Bladen Hawke 9th Baron Hawke 1901–1985 Julian Hawke 10th Baron Hawke 1904–1992 Edward Hawke 11th Baron Hawke 1950–2009 William Hawke 12th Baron Hawke born 1995

Coat of arms

Monument to Admiral Lord Hawke, St Nicolas church, North Stoneham, showing the arms of Hawke (Argent, a chevron erminois between three boatswain's whistles purple), with inescutcheon of pretence of Brooke, for his heiress wife

• Arms, as quartered by the descendants of Admiral Lord Hawke: Quarterly 1st and 4th argent, a chevron erminois between three boatswain's whistles purple (Hawke), 2nd and 3rd grand-quarter quarterly, 1st and 4th or, a cross engrailed gules (Brooke), 2nd and 3rd argent, a chevron engrailed sable, three mullets sable (a Brooke heiress).
• Crest: A hawk rising ermine, beaked, belled and charged on the breast with a fleur-de-lis or.
• Supporters: Dexter, Neptune, his mantle of a sea-green colour, edged argent, crowned with an eastern coronet or, his dexter arm erect, darting downwards, his trident sable, headed silver, resting his sinister foot on a dolphin proper; sinister, a seahorse or, sustaining in his forefins a banner argent, the staff broken proper.
• Motto: Strike.

Bibliography and references

1. Syrett (ed.). The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War. p. 59.

• Middleton, Richard (1985), The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-Newcastle Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years' War, 1757–1762, Cambridge University Press.
• Mackay, R. F. Admiral Hawke (Oxford 1965).
• Montague Burrows: The Life of Edward Hawke, Lord Hawke, Admiral of the Fleet: with some accounts of the origin of the English Wars in the reign of George II. Published (1883).

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages