Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/245

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Haweis
225
Haweis

railway extension to Kurunegala and Bandarawela, and acquired popularity with the natives by his abolition of the obnoxious 'paddy' tax, or levy on rice cultivation. Nominated governor of Madras in 1895, he travelled all over the presidency, and proved himself a vigilant champion of its interests. In defiance of orders from the Calcutta government he firmly refused to allow the Mecca pilgrim ships to touch at Madras. His action was subsequently justified by the comparative immunity of the Madras presidency from the plague of 1899 and 1900. He was made G.C.M.G. in 1895, G.C.I.E. in 1896, and G.C.S.I. in 1901, when he left Madras. Long residence in the tropics had undermined his health, and in 1901 he refused the governorships of the Straits Settlements and of Victoria. Eventually he accepted the easier past of governor of Tasmania, but resigned in 1904, before completing his term of office. He retired to Torquay, and died at Bath on 25 June 1908. A competent and painstaking official, he showed practical sympathy with the people under his rule and anxiety to mitigate the rigours of the law. He married on 15 Aug. 1871 Anne Grace, daughter of Sir William Norris. She died on 6 Jan. 1908, leaving one daughter.

[The Times, 26 June 1908; Army List, 1874; J. Ferguson, Ceylon in 1903; addresses presented to and replies delivered by Sir A. E. Havelock on his fifteenth tour in the Madras presidency, 1900; Madras Weekly Mail, 2 July 1908; private information from Col. Acton Havelock.]

G. S. W.


HAWEIS, HUGH REGINALD (1838–1901), author and preacher, born on 3 April 1838, at Egham, Surrey, was grandson of Thomas Haweis [q. v.], the friend and trustee of Lady Huntingdon, and was son of John Oliver Willyams Haweis by his wife Mary. His father (1809–1891) matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1828, and proceeding M.A. in 1830. From 1846 he was morning preacher at the Magdalen Hospital in London, and from 1874 to 1886 rector of Slaugham in Sussex. In 1883 he was made Heathfield prebendary of Chichester Cathedral. He was the author in 1844 of ‘Sketches of the Reformation,’ a work of considerable learning.

Hugh Reginald, the eldest son in a family of four children, showed great musical sensibility and aptitude for violin playing from early years, but delicate health prevented systematic education. He suffered from hip-disease, and at the age of twelve Sir Benjamin Brodie pronounced his case hopeless. He was taken to his grandmother's house in Brunswick Square, Brighton, and recovered, although he remained almost a dwarf and had a permanent limp. At Brighton he practised the violin assiduously, receiving instruction from several masters and finally from Oury, a pupil of Paganini. He obtained orchestral practice as a member of the Symphony Society that met in the Brighton Pavilion. He also wrote much verse and prose for the Brighton papers. By the age of sixteen he had so much improved in strength that he was put under the care at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, of the Rev. John Bicknell, who prepared him for matriculation at Cambridge. In 1856 he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and quickly became a notoriety. He was the solo violinist of the Cambridge Musical Society, and formed a quartet society which met in his rooms. He read German poetry and philosophy with enthusiasm, and along with some friends of kindred tastes started a magazine called the ‘Lion,’ of which three numbers were issued. There was ability as well as originality in the magazine, but its extravagance laid it open to ridicule. (Sir) G. O. Trevelyan issued a rival sheet called the ‘Bear,’ which parodied all the eccentricities of the ‘Lion.’ Haweis says magnanimously that the greatest success of the ‘Lion’ ‘was in calling forth the “Bear” which slew it.’ He continued to contribute voluminously to any newspapers that would publish his writing, and he made the acquaintance of a French violinist, J. G. R. R. Venua, who interested him in the history and art of violin-making, a subject upon which he began researches. He graduated B.A. in 1859, and then travelled for his health. His father had wished him to avoid Italy, but falling in with Signor Li Calsi, a professional musician whom he knew at Brighton, he went with him to Genoa, whence Calsi was proceeding to join Garibaldi. Haweis followed him to the seat of war. He arrived when Garibaldi was besieging Capua. He incurred without injury many risks and privations from bad food, bad weather, and insanitary conditions. He made the acquaintance of King Victor Emmanuel, and was present at the peace celebrations in Milan. He described his experiences in the ‘Argosy’ in 1870.

Before leaving Italy Haweis read the newly issued ‘Essays and Reviews,’ and decided to seek orders in the English church. He had been for some years ‘an irregular student of theology.’ In 1861 he passed