Henry Hawkins (Jesuit)

Henry Hawkins (1577 – 18 August 1646) was an English Jesuit writer. His best known work is the emblem book Partheneia Sacra: Or the Mysterious and Delicious Garden of the Sacred Parthenes (originally published in 1633; reprinted in 1950 and again in 1971).

Life

Henry was the son of Sir Thomas Hawkins and Anne Pettyt. He was baptized in Boughton under Blean on 8 October 1577. He married Aphra Norton in February 1604, and was widowed in January 1605.

Hawkins entered the English College, Rome, as a mature student on 19 March 1609, was ordained on 25 March 1614, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1615.^[1] After serving many years on the English Mission he died in Ghent on 18 August 1646.

Works

• History of S. Elizabeth (Rouen, 1632)
• The admirable life of S. Aldegond (1632), a translation of La vie admirable de la princesse Ste. Aldegonde by Etienne Binet
• Partheneia Sacra (Rouen, 1633)
• The Devout Heart (Rouen, 1634), a translation of Le coeur dévot by Etienne Luzvic