My new found cousin Olivia has kindly provided some photos of the Hewitt branch of the family to share with everyone. There are three generations centering on my gg-grandfather Walter Augustus Hewitt:
- his parents, uncle and mother-in-law
- one of his brothers, a sister-in-law, Walter’s wife and her sisters’ families
- his children
Unfortunately, there are no pictures of Walter. To help put them in context (as well as I can) here is a Hewitt family tree which shows how most of the people here relate to each other (click on it to see it bigger, use ctrl + to make it readable):
First Generation
Frederick Hewitt (1793-1883)
The beard growing continues to this day! There are allegedly also some portraits of Frederick, his wife Elizabeth (below) and Frederick’s maternal grandfather William Hughes. Frederick left these to his son Arthur Turner Hewitt, but I’m not currently in contact with any of his descendents to see if they still exist.
Elizabeth Turner Mrs F Hewitt (c1800-1874)
Susanna Birch Mrs Jonathan Muckleston Key (1807-1872)
Mother of Mary Sophia Key, Walter’s wife.
William Hughes Hughes (1792-1874)
Walter’s uncle William took his maternal grandfather’s surname as a condition of William Hughes’ will. He was a Member of Parliament. 
Second Generation
Albert Spencer Hewitt (1837-1921)
The elder of Walter’s two younger brothers.
Louisa Whitmore Mrs Stanley Hughes Hewitt (c1850-aft 1913)
Wife of Walter’s youngest brother, Louisa was the mother of Frederick Whitmore Hewitt, an army chaplain killed in 1915. See Ben Makin’s comment and link below about a visit by her grandfather to Louisa, Frederick’s wife and daughter in 1913.
Mary Sophia Key Mrs WA Hewitt
Walter’s wife and my gg-grandmother, daughter of Jonathan Muckleston Key and Susanna Birch (see above).
Susanna Key Mrs Charles Harvey (1834-?)
One of Mary Sophia Key’s younger sisters – you can tell. 
The Harvey Family
Susanna’s husband Charles Harvey and their children Amy Susanna Harvey Mrs Arnold Pittis (1862-1959) and Ralph Key Harvey (1866-1948). 
Susanna’s sister Mary Alice Key married Edward Harvey (Charles’ brother?) and had a son Edward Key Harvey (1867-1921):
Third Generation – Walter Augustus and Mary Sophia’s children
Thomas Hughes Hewitt (1864-1946)
My g-grandfather – a younger and older view.
Reginald Key Hewitt (1868-1945)
After the premature death of his first wife, Reginald moved to South Africa. He had two children with his first wife Alice: Doris Kathleen and Reginald Charles and a second daughter Marion Mrs Martin with his second wife. 
Elsie Maud Hewitt (1870-?)
Married to John Carpenter Turner in 1892 – a late Victorian wedding. 
Sophia Beatrice Hewitt (1872-1960)
Sophia never married.
Constance Ada Hewitt (1874-1952)
Constance married John F Newton in 1913 (aged around 39). I’m unsure if they had any children.
Kathleen Emily Hewitt (1875-1956)
Kathleen moved to South Africa and there married Francis Ernest Tonks in 1915 (aged around 40). They had no children.
My Family Annals 
This is very impressive.
The handwriting below the photos is my father’s- Charles Brian Griffiths Hewitt (son of Charles Augustus Hewitt)
As a child I called Sophia Beatrice ,Aunt Bee. Likewise Constance Ada was Aunt Ada.
Good luck with your further research.
Mark Alan Hewitt (father of Olivia)
It’s been lovely to see them! Thanks to your family for letting me have them to share!
Sarah
Thank you for sharing. Our grandfather was Thomas Eustace Hughes Hewitt so the name Thomas Hughes Hewitt seems a popular one.
Hi Linda,
The Thomas Hughes Hewitt in the photos was Thomas Eustace’s father. Can you see any resemblance? I think he looks a bit like my Dad.
Best wishes,
Sarah
These are really wonderful…thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to enjoy them!
Hi Susan,
So who do they look like in your family???
Sarah
A wonderful set of Victorian photographs, and in remarkably good condition too.
Very good of you to take the trouble to present and annotate them in this way.
Some years ago, I began a new section on a website that attempts to trace the history
of a London brewery that, as it transpired, had been started by the brothers
Frederick (1793-1883) and Augustus (1797-1885) Hewitt in the early 19th Century.
In the course of research, I soon found myself delving into some intriguing lives among
the families of Hewitt, Key, Field and Webber, several members from those families having
been either the brewery’s proprietors or linked to them through marriage – but I must say, that
I never expected to come across someone with a photograph of Frederick Hewitt. Amazing!
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comments. The extended family have been very interested in them.
I would be very interested in your research on the Brewery. Being in NZ I’m limited to what I can find online which to date hasn’t been very much! I know the brewery existed and then it didn’t, but that’s about it.
I’ll email you separately.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Hi Chris – can you tell me if the Hewitt brothers had any son’s they named Peter? I’ve been trying to trace Peter Hewitt for years as he was my grandfather who my grandmother met whilst working at a public house in London. My father was named Peter after him. Thanks Penny
Hi Penny,
My Hewitt family doesn’t have any Peters in it! Sorry to not be of more help!
Best wishes,
Sarah
Hi Sarah
Thank you for your reply.
I’m hoping Chris may have some information for me as he knows about the brewery side of the family and that is possibly where the answer lies! It would be so nice to find out about that side of the family as I know absolutely nothing, he was missing from my father’s life completely – either because he had died or maybe due to another reason.
Kind regards
Penny
Hi Penny,
Chris might know of some other Hewitt’s. The brothers he refers to are my 3xgt-grandfather Frederick and his brother. They were quite a wealthy family who seemed to have pet projects like owning a brewery and playing with trains (real ones!). And unfortunately, the name Peter is not one in our family.
I wish you luck in finding your Peter!
Best wishes,
Sarah
Have you tried an online forum like RootsChat? If you give them all the details you have like approximate dates of birth, locations etc, they may be able to find your Peter. They’re quite resourceful!
Best wishes,
Sarah
Hi Sarah
I hadn’t heard of Rootschat before so thank you for telling me about it!
Best wishes
Penny
Hi Penny,
I can only confirm everything that Sarah has said about Augustus and Frederick Hewitt who founded the ‘Clapham Brewery’ in Wandsworth Road, South London around 1820. There was never anyone with the name, ‘Peter Hewitt’ associated with the other families who once owned the brewery, including those of my ancestor, Thomas Woodward who reconstructed the property as the ‘Plough Brewery’ in 1868. The Woodward family eventually sold the business in 1913.
However, there seem to be very few references to ‘Peter Hewitt’ in 19th Century London, but as you do not give any details of your Peter I cannot comment further. I’m happy for Sarah to give you my email contact address if you wish to discuss the matter?
Regards,
Chris
Chris/Sarah,
I’m no relation but I think I live in Fredrick’s house In Clapham! We are round the corner from the old Brewery (just off Wandsworth Road) and the House was bought by a Fredrick Hewitt in 1875. I’ve still got the original deed with a copy of Fredricks signature!
To sure if there is a way of confronting and perhaps even getting u a copy! If you’re ever in London I could even show u around the house – it’s obviously been modernised but u can get a feel!
Andy
Hi Andy,
That’s very interesting! I would love to get a copy of the deed if you’re able to scan it?
I’ll email you!
Sarah
Hi Sarah, I live in Clapham, London, and am writing an article about the old brewery here. Can we be in direct contact by email? Mike
Hi Chris, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately I know very little about Peter Hewitt. His name was not on my father’s birth certificate – which shows the birth was illegitimate or because he was dead. My father was brought up by his grandparents and his mother returned to work at the public house in London, which seems strange to me.
His family were very reluctant to talk about Peter Hewitt, all that my father managed to get was that he was a merchant seaman and that he had died. I cannot find any trace of him at all. I am left wondering if maybe my dad was the result of an affair, possibly with a married man but the fact that he was named Peter does make me also wonder if it all was true.
Finding out information on merchant seaman is almost impossible – I think there’s a place in London where you have to go to, but I’ve not got around to trying to do this yet as getting to London is a bit difficult for me!
My father was born December 1926, so Peter Hewitt was around London before then but I haven’t anything further on him so far, no DOB as I cannot find his birth or death in any records in UK.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Sarah. Catching up on your site. Love the pictures. I’ll be interested in anything Chris Thomson has on the Brewery, especially the Field involvement.
Alan
Hi Alan,
I’ll email you the details.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Hello,
This is fascinating, and well done you for digging out so much history.
I am writing because the name “Mrs Hughes Hewett” (with an e not an i) comes up in some WW1 family letters I am putting on line.
My grandfather (Ted) and his brother (Richard) visited Mrs Hughes Hewett who lived within “motoring” distance of Bournemouth sometime in the early summer of 1915. Motoring distance then would have been say, 30 or 40 miles? I am not sure if the Mrs Hughes Hewett was a relation of yours, or which generation she would have been. Ted and Richard were in their 30s by then, so she would presumably have been at least the same age (born in the 1880s) and may have been several decades older (anything up to the 1840s or 1850s perhaps).
Anyway, here is the letter, and very Betjemanesque it was too.
http://www.familyletters.co.uk/honey-still-for-tea/
I’ve also got a facebook page for the project: https://www.facebook.com/FamilyLetters
Kind regards
Ben Makin
Hi Ben,
What a great thing to have found! I wish our family were as good at keeping their correspondence!
My first reaction was ‘of course they’re our family’ but working out which one took some time! My conclusion is that Mrs Hughes Hewitt was Louisa (nee Whitmore) Mrs Stanley Hughes Hewitt. Blanche is her daughter in law, wife to Frederick Whitmore Hewitt and Diana is their daughter who was born in 1912 so was probably a delightful toddler at the time!
I’m not sure where they were. In the 1911 Census Frederick and Blanche were in Devon and I can’t find his parents. Frederick’s father died in 1918 in London, so they may have gone up to Town?!
The connection to your family is likely to be through Frederick. He was “clerk in holy orders” in 1911, and was later an army chaplain. He died at Vermelle on 27 September 1915, aged 35.
I look forward to reading more of your family’s letters as you publish them!
Best wishes,
Sarah
PS I have a photo of Louisa, so I’ll add it to the bottom and link to your blog.
Hello Sarah
Thank you for getting back to me – it would be great to have a photograph of Louisa.
I did find another mention of a Hewett. Paul writes home to his mother saying:
“I dined with Lobby Hewett – the other evening – he asked after all of you.”.
The letter is dated 1 February 1915, but “the other evening” could have been any time since Christmas, really. Paul was on the HMS Gloucester which was in Scapa Flow Orkney during February, and unfortunately I’m not very sure where he was before then..
http://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-06Gloucester.htm
All the best
Ben
Hi Ben,
I’ve put Louisa in – up in the middle just below her brother-in-law Albert Spencer Hewitt.
You’ve got me on Lobby! No idea. Possibly a nickname? If I get contacted by anyone about a Lobby, I’ll send them your way!
Sarah
Hi,
I wonder if you would be kind enough to contact me regarding Reginald Key Hewitt. I believe he may have married my gt grandmothers sister Alice in 1894.
Thank you
Hi Jocelyn,
Great to make contact! I’ll send you an email.
Best wishes,
Sarah
I am Sandra Hewitt Browne née de Villiers I am the daughter of Valerie and Vincent de Villiers. Valerie was the only child of Doris Kathleen Harris née Hewitt, daughter of Reginald Key Hewitt and Alice, born in 1895- I would love to make contact with anyone who can give me more info re this branch of the Hewitt family. I can also pass on info I have!
Hi Sandra,
A cousin on Alice’s side and I have been trying to track down your branch! I’ve found your cousin Del. Will email you!
Best wishes,
Sarah