Sir Christopher Hawkins, 1st Baronet

Sir Christopher Hawkins, 1st Baronet, FRS (29 May 1758 – 6 April 1829[1]) was a Cornish landowner, mine-owner, Tory Member of Parliament, and patron of steam power.

He subsequently earned notoriety as the leading commoner engaged in 'boroughmongering', the purchase and sale of rotten boroughs, parliamentary constituencies that had very few electors and as a result could be bought and sold through patronage, influence, and straightforward bribery.

[5] In 1810, the bribery charge and ensuing bad feeling led to Hawkins fighting a duel with his fellow boroughmonger and former Whig MP for Penryn Lord Dunstanville.

Hawkins earned himself a reputation as a miser and it was claimed that, to reduce election expenses, he pulled down the houses of electors on his land thus depriving them of the right to vote.

[6] For his loyal service to the Tory government, he was created a baronet in 1791 by William Pitt the Younger and by the time of his death had become Father of the House.

[4][7] Sir Christopher inherited considerable estates from his father, but assiduously purchased additional land, eventually claiming that he could "ride from one side of Cornwall to the other without setting hoof on another man's soil.

A specimen of Ladock gold was presented to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall by Sir Christopher, who also published observations on the find in their Transactions.

[16] Sir Christopher was a partner in the Cornish Copper Company which established a smelting works at Copperhouse, built a canal to Hayle and extended the harbour there to export metal and import coal, timber, and other goods.

The garden at Trewithen was made by G. H. Johnstone VMH; it covers about 23 acres and is noted for its design and for the large collection of camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons.

[24] In 1813, he brought the Cornish Gillyflower apple, found in a cottage garden in Truro, to the attention of the Royal Horticultural Society who awarded him a silver medal "for his exertions".