caption death_date death_place birth_place nationality birth_date known_for image article_title name occupation
an adlard , from a portrait by alfred edward chalon engraving of peter hawker c. 1814 by h. august 1853 london london british november 1786 diarist , sportsman , soldier , shootist . peter hawker.jpg peter hawker
 peter hawker gentleman
peter hawker

colonel peter hawker -lrb- 24 november 1786 -- 7 august 1853 -rrb- was a celebrated diarist , author and sportsman accounted one of the `` great shots '' of the 19th century .
his sporting exploits were widely followed and , on occasion , considered worthy of report in `` the times '' .
born in london to colonel peter ryves hawker and mary wilson hawker -lrb- née yonge -rrb- he was educated at eton and then entered military service in 1801 with the purchase of a commission as a cornet in the royal dragoons -lrb- 1st dragoons -rrb- , soon gaining a promotion to captain .
hawker notes in his diary that : `` i was a captain of dragoons soon after i was seventeen years old , but paid dearer for it than anyone in the service . ''
