Hawkes, Jacquetta (1910–1996)

British archaeologist and writer who was one of the foremost popularizers of archaeology. Born Jacquetta Hopkins in Cambridge, England, on August 5, 1910; died on March 18, 1996; daughter of Sir Frederick Hopkins (a Nobel prizewinner); educated at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, and subsequently took part in many archaeological excavations between 1931 and 1940, in Britain, Ireland, France, and Palestine; married Christopher Hawkes (died 1992, an archaeologist), in 1933 (divorced 1953); married J.B. Priestley (the novelist, broadcaster, and playwright), in 1953 (died 1984); children: (first marriage) one son.

During World War II, Jacquetta Hawkes worked for the British government at the Ministry of Education. She was principal and secretary of the United Nations' National Commission for UNESCO (1943–49); vice-president of the Council for British Archaeology (1949–52); adviser to the Festival of Britain (1951); governor of the British Film Institute (1950–55); and a member of the Central Committee of UNESCO (1966–79). She was awarded an OBE in 1952.

Hawkes' many publications include The Archaeology of Jersey (1939); Prehistoric Britain (1944), written with her first husband Christopher Hawkes; Early Britain (1945); A Land (1951); The World of the Past (1963); Atlas of Ancient Archaeology (1975); and the Shell Guide to British Archaeology (1986). Paul G. Bahn, her collaborator on the Shell Guide, found his first stay at Kissing Tree, the house near Stratford she shared with her second husband, novelist J.B. Priestley, daunting, as he tried to converse with "these formidable intellects" over dinner. "I remember asking Jacquetta, in my ignorance, if she had ever done much work on the Palaeolithic period, and she replied that she had not, 'although I did find the Tabun skull' (one of the most famous Neanderthal skulls). After dinner I sat between them, watching television in the massive study, with its floor-to-ceiling books, grand piano and enormous desks—their two favourite shows were 'Call My Bluff' and 'One Man and his Dog.'" Though Hawkes appeared to be aloof and formal, Bahn found her "shy, and very gracious, kind and generous."

Jacquetta Hawkes also wrote poetry and plays and a biography of Sir Mortimer Wheeler. With Priestley, she co-authored Journey Down a Rainbow (1955), a memoir of their travels in New Mexico and Texas.

sources:

Bahn, Paul G. "Obituary," in British Archaeology. No. 14, May 1996.

Elizabeth Rokkan , translator, formerly Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Bergen, Norway