Author: Locker, Edward Hawke
Biography:
LOCKER, Edward Hawke (1777-1849: ODNB)
The son of William Locker and his wife Lucy Parry, he was born at East Malling, Kent, and educated at Eton. In 1794 he entered the navy pay office. He was appointed private secretary to Lord Exmouth in 1804 and served with him in the East Indies (1804-09), the North Sea (1810), and the Mediterranean (1811-14). Several of his publications are based on visits made in his official capacity: Views of Spain (1824) and his account of Napoleon, published in The Plain Englishman (a periodical he founded with Charles Knight [q.v.]). In 1815 he married Eleanor Mary Elizabeth Boucher; they had nine children. His father had been governor of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich and in 1819 Locker was appointed secretary. He worked to reform the administration of the Hospital but his most important legacy was the establishment of the Naval Gallery. He was a founding member of the Athenaeum. A watercolour artist, he was friendly with many artists and literary men and his authorship of Catalonia was identified through his correspondence with Walter Scott (q.v.). He retired in 1844 because of senility and died at Iver, Buckinghamshire, survived by his wife. His son, Frederick Locker Lampson (1821-95), was also a poet. (ODNB 27 Apr. 2021; Millgate) SR