William Hewer

William (Will) Hewer (1642 - December 3 1715) was employed by Samuel Pepys as a manservant and office clerk for Pepys's work as the new Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board [The Diary of Samuel Pepys Companion, ed. Latham, Robert & Mathews, William, HarperCollins 2000 ISBN 0520227158, page 182] . By November 1663, Hewer was able to move out of Pepys' house and have his own lodgings.

Hewer was initially introduced to Pepys by Hewer's uncle Robert Blackborne, whose sister was Hewer's mother, and who was a longtime Pepys friend with whom he worked at the Admiralty. It has been said that the biggest favor Blackborne did for Pepys was his introduction of his nephew Hewer to Pepys in 1660. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=J-JSalViBrMC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=blackborne+pepys&source=web&ots=fK-Ww_gb_X&sig=I4YaOAeZyOYj6hyhzd1LLfkm43U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA31,M1 The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 10, Samuel Pepys, Robert Latham, William Matthews (eds.), University of California Press, 2001] ]

Hewer frequently in Pepys' Diary as a trusted friend as well as an assistant. As their relationship developed it became a professional partnership as well as a personal friendship. When Pepys moved to the Admiralty in 1673, Hewer moved to the Admiralty as well and became Chief Clerk the following year. In 1677, he was appointed as Judge Advocate-General.

In 1685 he became MP for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. He was appointed to the Special Commission which replaced the Navy Board in 1686 with responsibility for accounts. After the deposition of James II in 1689, Pepys and Hewer lost their patronage from the Crown and both were briefly imprisoned but released without trial.

Hewer managed to become very rich [The Diary of Samuel Pepys Companion, ed. Latham, Robert & Mathews, William, HarperCollins 2000 ISBN 0520227158, page 183] . He made much of it through his involvement in trading with his uncle Blackborne who became secretary to the Admiralty, and later to the British East India Company. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=J-JSalViBrMC&pg=PA182&lpg=PA182&dq=%22robert+blackborne%22+anne&source=web&ots=fK-Ww-daVV&sig=Lfq2bxTvjzrS5-EQj49CMd1Hyvg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA183,M1 The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 10, Samuel Pepys, Robert Latham, William Matthews (eds.), University of California Press, 2001] ]

Like Pepys, Hewer also received payments from those doing business with the Navy but suspicions of illicit payments were never proved and he did not hold a lucrative office for any length of time. He probably also inherited from his father who was a merchant, as Pepys' Diary mentions his increased expenditures after his father's death in 1665. By 1674, Hewer was wealthy enough to finance the construction of three warships. He became a director of the old East India Company in 1698 and was twice Deputy Chairman. He also served as Treasurer of Tangier.

He owned a house in near The Strand which became the Admiralty Office when he and Pepys moved from the Navy Board. Pepys also lived in the house while he was at the Admiralty.

He bought an estate in the then village of Clapham in 1688 which he used as a country retreat. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZloJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA35&dq=blackborne+hewer+edgeley Old Clapham, John William Grover, London, 1892] ] (Hewer also owned other property in Clapham, London, Westminster, Norfolk and elsewhere.) Pepys went to live in Hewer’s house on Clapham Common in his old age and died there in 1703. Hewer was the executor of Pepys will and retained Pepys Library and book collection, including the Diary, until he died. Hewer died in 1715 and is buried in St Paul's Church, Clapham.

Hewer never married and so devised that his estate go to his godson Hewer Edgeley on the condition that he change his surname to Hewer. This the heir did, becoming Hewer Edgeley-Hewer. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=PS4wAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA467&dq=blackborne+hewer+edgeley+levett Thoroton versus Blackborne et al., The English Reports, William Green & Sons, Edinburgh, 1903] ] Subsequently lawsuits arose over the immense Hewer estate. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=4G0DAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA9-PT264&lpg=RA9-PT264&dq=%22abraham+blackborn%22&source=web&ots=zIPnFAeYEC&sig=Oxg-aWe2juePx5kG2HHLzHld3-s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PRA9-PT263,M1 Blackborn versus Hewer Edgeley, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery, his Majesty's law printers for E. Brooke, London, 1787] ] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=tLYvAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=%22abraham+blackborn%22&source=web&ots=05ubfM9RxW&sig=ZUepydis4Vvh3JHSS3UCYxR2re0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA92,M1 The House of Lords Cases on Appeal and Writs of Error, Vol. III, Charles Clark, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1870] ]

References

###@@@KEY@@@###