The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1891-08-26
DEATH OF SIR PRESCOTT heWETT,
BARI.
(From the London Daily Telegraph,
June %, 1897

/
Again has the still unchecked but
happily diminishing epidemic claimed
for its victim Que Of the most emf
nent professional men in the United
Kingdom. On Friday evening Sir
Prescott Hewett, Sergeant-Surgeon
to Her Majesty and Surgeon in Or
dinary TO the Prince of Wales,
breathed his last, at his residence,
Chestnut Lodge, Horsham, to which
he retired some five years since, ar
Ter Withdrawing from the active pur-
SUIT of a profession Of which for
more than half century he had
been distinguished ornament, and
perhaps the most popular member.
Sir Prescott was born in 1912, at
Bilham Hall, in Yorkshire, the coun-
try seat of his father, Mr.. w. N. w.
Hewett-- called West
| Nor West Hewett who in his day
was All enthusiastic supporter OF the
| turf, and much given (iike his York
shire neighbors, the Hon. Edward
Petre, of Stspleton Park, Ponte-
| fract, and the f8ther and uncle OF the
late Lord Houghton, Of Fryston Hall,
Ferrybridge) to heavy betting. Mr..
W. n. w. Hewett was to all intents
and purposes ruined by the result of
the Derby of l8l2-the year in which
| the most successful and celebrated
of his many sons first saw the light.
The story of the race IN question is
briefly told in the "Badminton Ii
brarv" volume "upon Racing" in
the following words: &" In one re-
spect, however, residents of the
British metropolis during the last
thirty years have been gamers by
the dishonesty of Sam Chjney, the
younger. For the Derby of 1912
Mr.. w. N. w. Hewctt's ManueIla,
ridden by Chifney, started first fav-
orite at Z to 2. She failed to get
place, and her owner, who had
backed her for large sum, was
ruined. In the Oaks she started at
20 to l, and was ridden by William
Peirse. One single bet of two thous-
and to one hundred pounds was
taken about her, not by her owner or
trainer, but by the jockey who had
ridden her for the Derby, and knew
she would win the Oaks in canter,
which she did. Not long after Mr..
Hewett, accompanied by large fam
lily of boys, transferred himself to
Paris, and it was in the hospitals of
the French Metropolis that one of his
sons acquired the rudiments of sur
gerry. In this manner later gener-
alton OF Englishmen have had cause
10 thank the corrupt riding of Chif-
ney in the Derby of 1872 for one of
the most accomplished surgeons that
ever lived-the present Sir Prescott
Hewett."
There was no story which Sir Pres
cott-himself an admirable ira
conteur" with more gusto than
that in which he describes the arrival
of himself and three or four brothers,
ranging between eight and fifteen
years of age, at a French seminary
or college, situated about five miles
south OF Paris. In or about 1921
Mr.. w. N w. Hewett, finding that
Paris was too expensive residence,
and that his sons were in need of
better educational advantages than
he could there afford to give them,
determined to send them to school in
the country. He discovered an old
French convent which had been
turned into college or academy, at
which there were no English pupils.
1t was naturally his desire that his
sons should learn French perfectly,
and therefore it seemed to him a re-
commentator that at school they
would find no compatrlots to talk
English to them. Accordingly he
chartered large family coach, in
which he and his boys, accompanied
by Pinch, favorite Scotch terrier,
set out for the French academy.
The rumbling old vehicle drew up in
courtyard: the door was opened,
and Pinch jumped out. The French
"eleves," nearly twenty in number,
were awaiting the arrival of the Eng
llSn boys, towards Wnom tHelT Senll-
| ments, as was natural within few
years of Waterloo, were far from
friendly. Unfortunately, Pinch's
first act on touching the ground was
to seize by the throat au Italian
greyhound who was general favorite
in the establishment. The French
pupils rushed in to save their pet
from being strangled; the English
boys fastened, of course, to Pinch's
! aid. In moment the battle became
general, and Sir Prescott, aged
, about nine or ten, found himself con-
fronted by tall, lathy French boy
i of fourteen, whom he doubled up by
d a well-planted blow in what pugllists
e call "the breadbasket." )"
t Happily the association between
e the French and English students,
!. which commenced SO inauspiciously,
ended satisfactorily in the long run.
Sir Prescott not only learnt French
perfectly, but had the good luck to
become intimate with the son of q
successful Partisan surgeon, by
] whom he was first inspired with q
love for that noble profession in
which he was destined to achieve the
highest distinction. After being