College, Cambridge, are also in the King's Library. Hawksmoor's designs for the town hall, gates, &c., of Chester were in Vertue's possession in 1742 (Gough, Brit. Top. i. 265*).
Many of Hawksmoor's drawings have been engraved. Wren's original design for the London Monument, as well as of that actually executed (1671–7), were engraved from Hawksmoor's drawing by Hulsbergh in ‘Synopsis ædificiorum publicorum C. Wren,’ plates iii. and iv. Hawksmoor's plan of the church of St. Albans was engraved by Harris, and elevation of north front by J. Kip, 1721 (both on a reduced scale in Stevens, Monasticon, i. 233–63). His elevation and plan of All Saints' Church, Oxford, with proposals for a tower, was engraved by J. Sturt, and was issued with an appeal for funds after the fall of the spire in 1699. Hawksmoor's plans, elevation, and profile of Bow Steeple, London, were engraved from drawings now in the King's Library, British Museum, by H. Hulsbergh, for ‘The Architecture of Sir C. Wren,’ 1726. Hulsbergh also engraved Hawksmoor's plan and view of Bow Church, with the arcade fronting Cheapside, as originally intended. Two indian-ink drawings by Hawksmoor of a ‘Design for a Monument to (?) John, Duke of Marlborough,’ and ‘A Column with the Statue of Queen Anne, designed to be erected in the Strand, 1713,’ are in the print room, British Museum.
After an illness of so serious a nature as to occasion a premature announcement of his death (London Daily Post, 24 March 1736), Hawksmoor died at his house in Millbank, Westminster, on 25 March 1736, and, in accordance with a wish expressed in his will, was buried at Shenley in Hertfordshire on 3 April (Parish Register, kindly copied by the Rev. H. J. Newcome). A large stone slab with a Latin inscription to his memory is still at the east end of the churchyard. It was found underground about 1830. Hawksmoor's only child was a daughter, Elizabeth, who married in her father's lifetime, first Nicholas Philpot, ‘one of the late commissioners of the hackney coaches,’ and afterwards (9 July 1735) Nathaniel Blackerby, treasurer to the commissioners for building the fifty new churches. In his will (made 14 Jan. 1729–30) Hawksmoor left all his property, consisting of houses and land at Westminster, Highgate, Shenley, and Great Drayton, to his wife Hester (sole executrix) and her heirs. The will was proved on 9 April 1736.
Hawksmoor was well known for his evenness of temper, which was undisturbed by even ‘the most poignant pains of the gout.’ He was unassuming in his professional relations. As an architect his excellence lay rather in his attention to details and thorough knowledge of constructive principles than in creative faculty. An application, made at Vanbrugh's suggestion, to the Duchess of Marlborough, ‘in behalf of Mr. Hawksmoor … for some opportunity to do him good,’ was supported, on the ground that he was the more worthy of consideration ‘because he does not seem very solicitous to do it for himself’ (Private Correspondence of Duchess of Marlborough, i. 266). The facsimile of a letter in his usual courteous and earnest style is in ‘R.I.B.A. Journal,’ 1889–90, vi. 160. Hawksmoor was ‘perfectly skilled in the history of architecture,’ a good mathematician, a scholar of languages, and an excellent draughtsman. His influence on the designs of the chief buildings of the period was very great, and the question has arisen whether the merit of many of Vanbrugh's designs does not lie with him. It is not known how Sir John obtained an architectural education, and it is certain that Wren, Vanbrugh, and Hawksmoor were all three on the board of works together.
He wrote ‘Remarks on the Founding and Carrying on of the Buildings at Greenwich, for the perusal of Parliament, 1728’ (abstract in Wren, Parentalia, p. 328), and published ‘A Short Historical Account of London Bridge, with a Proposition for a New Stone Bridge at Westminster,’ 1736; 2nd edit. 1739. The plates drawn by Hawksmoor and engraved by B. Cole and Toms include ‘A Plan of the City of Westminster,’ with suggestions as to suitable places for a bridge; ‘Propositions for London Bridge to be altered for the Navigation under and the Safety of Passengers over it;’ and ‘Proposition for a New Bridge at Westminster.’ Charles de Labelye made from Hawksmoor's draughts a calculation to estimate the fall of the water at the intended bridge at Westminster, and some conjectures as to the probable effect on the navigation (quoted in Hawksmoor, London Bridge, p. 18).
