Colonel Thomas Hawker, 20th Light Dragoons, July 1818

Miniature glazed portrait in watercolour on ivory, possibly by Frederick Buck (1771-1840), 1818.

Thomas Hawker (1777-1858) joined the Army as a cornet in the 11th Light Dragoons on 12 May 1795. He transferred to the 20th Light Dragoons as a major in November 1804 and commanded the regiment from 1808 onwards.

His unit was part of the expeditionary force that took the islands of Ischia and Procida in the Bay of Naples in 1809, and he was present during the operations on the eastern coast of Spain in 1813 to 1814.

The 20th Light Dragoons returned to England in September 1815 and were posted to Ireland. Hawker sat for this miniature in Cork in July 1818. After the regiment was disbanded in December 1818, he subsequently served on the staff in India as a major-general.

Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1837, Sir Thomas Hawker was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1838 and was Colonel of the 6th Dragoon Guards from 1839 until his death in 1858.