Hawthorne Lewis

Sir Hawthorne Lewis
2nd Governor of Odisha
In office
1 April 1941 – 31 March 1946
Preceded byJohn Austen Hubback
Succeeded byChandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
Personal details

Sir (William) Hawthorne Lewis, KCSI, KCIE (29 June 1888 – 19 October 1970) was a member of the Indian Civil Service who served as the Governor of Odisha from 1941 to 1946.[1] Born to Thomas Crompton Lewis at Kasauli, Shimla.

Educated at Oundle School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Lewis entered the Indian Civil Service by examination in 1911 and served Orissa in various capacities beginning as Assistant Magistrate and Collector.[2]

He married Alice Margaret Rose Hewitt in 1929 who a widow of Lieutenant Ronald Erskine Hewitt (who perished in the First World War) a resident of 7 Hastings Road, New Delhi, which today is the designated home for the Chief Justice of India.[3][4] Alice was the daughter of George Edgar Woodhouse, Nordon, Blanford, Dorset.[5][6] He later married Geraldine Susan Maud de Montmorency.[7]

In 1927 he was appointed as an officer (Joint Secretary) on special duty in the Reforms Office, which considered amendments to the Constitution and Government of India Act 1919. During his tenure the Reforms Office was very vocal towards temerity of laws pertaining to an existence of an 'emergency' during a Governmental or Governor General invoked ordnance. So as to deter decision makers and not use state sponsored violence as allowed in a statute which would in turn allow the Governor General of India to do as he pleased. During his tenure in the Reforms Office, he was also boss to V.P Menon.[8][9]

He laid the foundation stone for the Hirakud Dam in 1946.[10][11][12] One of the other major contributions of Hawthorne as Governor of Orissa is that he gave assent to act of legislation which sanctioned for the foundation of the Utkal University on 27th November 1943 being inaugurated on 1st November 1944 under a proposal from the cabinet of the then Prime Minister of Orissa, Krushna Chandra Gajapati.[13][14][15]

At the mid-term of governorship of Odisha province, there were only five colleges in the province as per a report by the Statesman published in 1945.[16]

Lewis died in 1970 at Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.

References

  1. ^ Sir Hawthorne Lewis (1954). Speeches Delivered by His Excellency Sir Hawthorne Lewis, ..., Governor of Orissa, 1941-1946. Government of Orissa. p. 27. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  2. ^ Raghavan, Srinath (2010). War and Peace in Modern India. p. 438. doi:10.1057/9780230277519. ISBN 978-1-349-58988-3.
  3. ^ "Barton, Richard, (25 May 1850–1 Sept. 1927), late Superintendent of Demands, Stationery Office (retired, 1913)", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u193224, retrieved 1 September 2025 Page 141
  4. ^ Abhba (11 March 1854). "Thom's Irish Almanac and official directory for 1854". Notes and Queries. s1-IX (228): 282. doi:10.1093/nq/s1-ix.228.219d. ISSN 1471-6941.
  5. ^ "Perchard, Colin William, (born 19 Oct. 1940), Minister (Cultural Affairs), India, British Council, 1993–2000", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.30551, retrieved 1 September 2025
  6. ^ "The 1942 year book of pediatrics: I. A. Abt and A. F. Abt". The Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 10 (4): 180. October 1943. doi:10.1007/bf02753024. ISSN 0019-5456.
  7. ^ "A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage, and Companionage". Notes and Queries. s9-XI (262): 642. 3 January 1903. doi:10.1093/nq/s9-xi.262.20a. ISSN 1471-6941.
  8. ^ "Indian Information Series". India Information Series. 8–9. Bureau of Public Information: 571. 1941.
  9. ^ Jain, Charul; Dave, Parth (31 December 2022). "Singing the Unsung: Understanding the Making of Modern India in Narayani Basu's V. P. Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India". Towards Excellence: 1458–1466. doi:10.37867/te1404132. ISSN 0974-035X.
  10. ^ Dilip D'Souza (2002). The Narmada Dammed: An Inquiry Into the Politics of Development. Penguin Books India. pp. 95–. ISBN 978-0-14-302865-9.
  11. ^ Das, M.N.; Nanda, C.P. (22 August 2016). Harekrushna Mahtab. Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-81-230-2325-0. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  12. ^ Dorothy Hogg (16 April 2013). India - A Plea For Understanding. Read Books Limited. pp. 259–. ISBN 978-1-4733-8511-5. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  13. ^ Köhl, Torvald (1 April 1900). "Astronomical Observations in 1899". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 12 (73): 119. Bibcode:1900PASP...12...56K. doi:10.1086/121364. ISSN 0004-6280.
  14. ^ "Lewis, Sir (William) Hawthorne, (29 June 1888–19 Oct. 1970)", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u54624, retrieved 1 September 2025
  15. ^ Ziring, Lawrence (February 1979). "North West Frontier Province Legislature and Freedom Struggle, 1932–47. By Amit Kumar Gupta. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research, 1976. xv, 239 pp. Appendix, Bibliography, Index. Rs. 30.00". The Journal of Asian Studies. 38 (2): 398–399. doi:10.1017/s0021911800142159. ISSN 0021-9118.
  16. ^ "Book Reviews: The Statesman's Year-Book 1960-61. Edited by S. H. Steinberg. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1960. Pp. xxvi, 1677. $9.50.)". Western Political Quarterly. 14 (2): 158. June 1961. doi:10.1177/106591296101400245. ISSN 0043-4078.
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