William Hewett (died 1840)

William Hewett was a Royal Navy officer noted for making the first comprehensive survey of the North Sea and for his work on tides.

From 1813 he served in HMS Inconstant, and carried out a number of surveys on the coast of Brazil, including Maranhão, Ceará and Bahia.

[1][4]: 104  Hewett's description of the Leman and Ower banks, off the coast of Norfolk is given in full in the North Sea Sailing Directions of 1846.

[5] Other areas surveyed included Yarmouth Roads,[6] the entrance to the Humber estuary, Lynn and Boston Deeps, The Gabbards and the Dudgeon.

This involved anchoring the ship and taking repeated soundings at the same location with lead and line, precautions being needed to allow for irregularities in the sea bed, and the effects of tidal flow.

Francis Beaufort, the hydrographer who had initiated the survey knew the Fairy to be a sound ship, and Hewett to be a fine seaman.

Chart of the Coasts of Brazil incorporating Hewett's survey work
Part of Admiralty Chart No 1630 showing the Leman and Ower Shoals
Admiralty Chart No 2182 The North Sea sheet II, surveyed by Captains Hewett and Washington