Hugh Reginald Haweis

Hugh Reginald Haweis (April 3, 1838 – January 29, 1901), English preacher and writer, was born at Egham, Surrey.

On leaving Trinity College, Cambridge, he travelled in Italy and served under Garibaldi in 1860. On his return to England he was ordained and held various curacies in London becoming in 1866 incumbent of St James's, Marylebone.

His unconventional methods of conducting the service, combined with his dwarfish figure and lively manner, soon attracted crowded congregations. He married Miss ME Joy in 1866, and both he and Mrs Haweis (d. 1898) contributed largely to periodical literature and travelled a good deal abroad. Haweis was Lowell lecturer at Boston, USA, in 1885, and represented the Anglican Church at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893.

He was much interested in music, and wrote books on violins and church bells, besides contributing an article to the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica on bell-ringing. His best-known book was Music and Morals (3rd ed., 1873); and for a time he was editor of Cassell's Magazine. He also wrote five volumes on Christ and Christianity (a popular church history, 1886-1887). Other writings include Travel and Talk (1896), and similar chatty and entertaining books.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.