Discover a Rare 18th-Century Voice—Preserved Across Continents and Generations
The Life of Thomas Hawley (1713–1788) opens a remarkable window into everyday experience in 18th-century England. Written in 1780, shortly after the death of his wife, Hawley’s autobiographical account traces his journey through Nottinghamshire and Shropshire, capturing the rhythms of rural life, personal loss, and steadfast faith.
Carried from England to America by later generations of the Hawley family, the manuscript survived in handwritten copies throughout the 19th century. This edition brings that lineage to life. The left-hand pages present a faithful reproduction of the 1869 “Richard Hawley Jr.” transcription—digitized from the original looseleaf pages held today by the Huntington Library.
On the right-hand pages, readers will find a fresh 2024 transcription and a rich set of annotations by Kate Treatman-Clark, a direct descendant of Thomas Hawley. Her commentary draws on decades of genealogical investigation by family historians William Hawley Clark and Rosemary Lehman Clark, as well as her own extensive research across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Shropshire between 2013 and 2024.
The result is a deeply contextualized, beautifully presented historical document—an intimate family narrative that also speaks to anyone interested in genealogy, social history, or the lived texture of the 18th century.