by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
He was an architect, a draftsman, an engineer, an accountant, and a gentleman. John Hawks was one of the essential citizens of colonial New Bern and we would not have Tryon Palace today without him.
Brought to the New World in 1764 by Lieutenant Governor William Tryon, Hawks designed and built the “mansion house” while North Carolina was still ruled by the king of England.
From Hawks’s fertile mind sprang the exquisite Georgian brick exterior façade we know and love today. He imagined the efficient and stylish multi-story floor plan, its ornate fences and gates, the layout of the spectacular gardens, and even the underground drainage system. Once the designs were approved by the Crown, Hawks managed the finances while overseeing the construction of the project, in the process creating one of the most iconic structures of early America.
Recruited by the soon-to-be governor, the “very able worthy master builder” moved to New Bern shortly after he arrived in the colony. He’d live in the Colonial Capitol for the rest of his days, becoming a prominent citizen and progenitor of a family line that made contributions to the nascent city for generations.
Born in Lincolnshire, England in 1731, Hawks worked there as a surveyor and builder creating a name for himself. As the contractor for the governor’s mansion house, Hawks was described as “a person acquainted with the value of the work, qualified to adapt the proportions, experienced to direct the quality and choice of materials, and of ability to judge the performance of the several craftsmen and tradesmen.”
In concert with Tryon, Hawks had the governor’s palace plans drawn by 1766 with construction running through the summer of 1770. Tryon hailed Hawks’s work as “a public ornament.”
Hawks married Sarah Rice in 1768 and they began a family. An admired local leader, he continued to work as an architect and builder until his death at New Bern in 1790.