b. 1816-11-12
d. 1895-01-10
John Summerfield Hawkins was born in Staffordshire, England, and raised in
Ceylon [
Sri Lanka] until he was 10, when he was sent to school in England, later entering the Royal
Military Academy at Woolwich. He obtained his commission in the Royal Engineers on 12 December 1834, becoming a
first lieutenant on 10 January 1837, second captain on 1 April 1846, captain on 1
April 1852, brevet-major on 14 June 1858, and lieutenant-colonel on 12 August 1858.
He served as Her Majesty's
commissioner for the North American Boundary Commission from 1858 to October 1863.
A captain at the time of his appointment,
Hawkins was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 12 August 1858.
In the autumn of 1863, he was appointed commander of the Royal Engineers at Woolwich,
remaining there until May 1867. He was made colonel in 1868, commanding
the Royal Engineers in Barbados from May 1867 to May 1870 and in Ireland from 1871
to 1874. He returned home in 1874; he was promoted lieutenant-general in 1877
and general in 1881, although no longer in active service.
Hawkins was knighted upon his retirement in 1881 and held the rank of colonel commandant
in the Royal Engineers until 1884. He died on 10 January 1895 at
St. Leonard's, Great Malvern.
- 1. Sir John Summerfield Hawkins, K.C.M.G., Family Search.
- 2. Colonel John Summerfield Hawkins - Commander of the Boundary Commission, The Military Survey (Geo) Branch, no. 59, Spring 2016, 3.
- 3. Frances M. Woodward, The Influence of the Royal Engineers on the Development of British Columbia, BC Studies, 1974, 9.
- 4. Colonel John Summerfield Hawkins, The Military Survey.
- 5. Sir John Summerfield Hawkins, Family Search.