William Hickey (memoirist)

English lawyer and writer of memoirs (1749–1830)
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William Hickey (30 June 1749 – 31 May 1830) was an English lawyer, but is best known for his vast Memoirs, composed in 1808–10 and published between 1913 and 1925, which in their manuscript form cover 750 closely written folio pages. Described by Peter Quennell as "One of the most remarkable books of its kind ever published in the English Language", Hickey's Memoirs give an extraordinarily vivid picture of life in late 18th century London, Calcutta, Madras and Jamaica which stands comparison with the best of his near contemporary James Boswell.

Hickey was born in St. Albans Street, Pall Mall, Westminster, England, on 30 June 1749, the seventh son of Joseph Hickey, a successful Irish solicitor, and Mary Boulton, from a Yorkshire gentry family. He began his education at Westminster School, but was removed "in high disgrace" in December 1763 after neglecting his studies, frequenting public houses and leading, in his own words, a life of "idleness and dissipation". He was sent to a private school at Streatham in Surrey, where he was able to study Arithmetic, Writing, French, Drawing and Dancing in addition to the Classical Studies which had failed to engage him at Westminster. In January 1766, he left school and began his legal training at his father's law firm, but he continued to lead an extremely debauched existence, visiting the prostitutes of Covent Garden and drinking heavily. On more than one occasion, he was caught embezzling funds from the firm; finally, his father decided to send his son to India to see if he could make good. Accordingly, Hickey embarked on the ship Plassey, a fast East Indiaman, at Dungeness on 4 January 1769.

Upon arriving in India, Hickey was expected to join the British East India Company army as an officer cadet, but he was put off when he learned that the pay was "too contemptible to afford the common necessaries of life". He got back on the Plassey to return to England. The ship traveled first to China, of which he gives an account in his memoirs. His father was less than pleased at his return and, after Hickey reverted to his old ways, sent him to Jamaica to work as a lawyer, with a warning that if he failed he could expect no further help — indeed, his father would no longer even receive him. Upon his arrival in Jamaica, Hickey discovered that there were limits imposed on the numbers of attorneys allowed to practice, and he would not be able to make a living as a lawyer there. He returned to England, "with considerable regret", leaving about five months after his arrival, on 17 April 1776, arriving back on 14 June. The dullness of what he called a "trifling" place "with a very limited society", encouraged him to occupy his mind by writing his memoirs, which eventually extended to over 700 pages of handwritten text taking his life up to 1810, at which point he stopped. The details of his life after 1810 are sketchy, but he seems to have moved to London with his sisters, Sarah and Ann, who died in 1824 and 1826 respectively. He died in 1830.

Alfred Spencer (Ed.) The Memoirs of William Hickey (London: Hurst & Blackett) 1913–25, 4 Vols. Peter Quennell (Ed.) The Memoirs of William Hickey (London: Hutchinson) 1960
Roger Hudson (Ed.) Memoirs of a Georgian Rake (London: The Folio Society) 1995
The later editions restore some coarser material that was omitted from the first publication.