(b ?Dartmoor, 4 June 1770; d Boston, 2 Aug 1827). American conductor, composer and publisher of English birth. In New York, 1792-1811, he was conductor at the Park Street Theatre and operated a ‘musical repository’; he pursued similar activities in Boston, 1811-16, then travelled between Boston, New York and several southern cities. Besides music by Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Shield and Hook, he published c160 of his own works, from ballad operas to hymn tunes. His son John Hill Hewitt (1801-90) was a travelling music teacher and newspaper journalist, mainly in the south-eastern USA; he is remembered as a composer of sentimental songs, including The Minstrel's Return′d from the War (c1828) and All Quiet along the Potomac Tonight (1863). Three other children of James's were musicians, the pianist Sophia Henrietta Emma (1799-1845), the publisher James Lang (1803-53) and the composer George Washington (1811-93).
Like most early American pioneers of serious music, James Hewitt was not born an American. Hewitt, who during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries established himself in both New York City and Boston as a successful composer-conductor and also a keen-minded publisher, was born in England on the fourth of June, 1770. He learned the violin and the organ as a young man, and after arriving in the United States in 1792 he organized a series of concerts whose programs announced that he had previously played violin in the London court orchestra under Franz Joseph Haydn. The validity of this claim has been questioned, but it certainly served its purpose: very soon after arriving in the New World, Hewitt landed a job directing music activities at the Park Street Theatre in New York. He remained with that theater until 1808, dividing his time between his conducting and composing duties and the running of a music store. In 1811 Hewitt moved to Boston, where he played organ at the Trinity Church and oversaw the music and musicians of the Federal Street Theatre. In 1817 or so it was back to New York for good, though he did travel often during his last years. He died while visiting Boston in 1827, but his musical spirit lived on through the successful musical careers of some of his children.
James Hewitt might or might not have ever played under Haydn. He definitely did, however, have a taste for the man's music, performing and conducting it often during his early days in New York; in 1893 he presented the American premiere of Haydn's Seven Last Words. As a composer, Hewitt was constrained by the commercial necessities of his time, and even if he had been skilled enough to compose large-scale concert music of a deep and serious kind, he never could have sold it. So the music that he did compose is largely of lighter build: stage works like the Indian Chief (1794) and the Tars from Tripoli (1807) and programmatic instrumental compositions like the Overture in Nine Parts, Expressive of a Battle (1792), represent the taste of the time. Hewitt did, however, compose a series of piano sonatas that, though hardly comparable in ingenuity with their European models, are better fare than most Americans of the day might have drawn up. He also penned several dozen songs and dances. ~ Blair Johnston, All Music Guide
James Hewitt (born 1958), a former Britishhousehold cavalry officer, was a sexual partner of Diana, Princess of Wales for five years.[1][2] He has courted controversy by revealing details of their affair. There were rumours of a palace deal with newspapers but this is not corroborated.[citation needed]
Princess Diana admitted in her notable Panorama interview that she had committed adultery with Hewitt. As Diana was then the wife of the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne, it was suggested that Hewitt had committed high treason,[3] as such an affair is proscribed by the Treason Act 1351. The affair ended in 1992.
Hewitt later tried to sell his sixty personal letters from Diana for £10 million.[1]
He was rumoured to be the biological father of Prince Harry, but Hewitt denied it, saying to The Sunday Mirror that "When I met Diana, he was already a toddler." Ken Wharfe, a police bodyguard for Diana, has also pointed out the time discrepancy, and noted that Hewitt's and the Prince's often-compared red hair is also very common in Harry's maternal Spencer family line.[2]
In July 2004, Hewitt was arrested outside a restaurant in Fulham with Alison Bell, who was a TV journalist with CNN and he was in a relationship with at the time. They were arrested on accusation of possessing cocaine.[4] Hewitt, who was very drunk, had .361 grams of cocaine in his pocket. Hewitt was given a warning, and Bell was released without charge. As a result of the incident, he was refused reinstatement of his gun licenses due to his "intemperate habits" after police found a disassembled 16-bore shotgun on his living room floor and he told police he had drunk four bottles of wine since the afternoon of the incident.[5]
He opened The Polo House, a bar in the fashionable Golden Mile of Marbella, Spain in the spring of 2009.[3]
Hewitt lifted 82.5 kg in the 2003 weightlifting event of Channel 4's The Games (a celebrity athletics tournament), setting a record which he held jointly with 2004 competitor Shane Lynch, until this was beaten in 2005 by Philip Olivier. He eventually came second.
In 2003, Hewitt took part in the Five reality TV show Back To Reality and eventually won it.
In July 2004, he took part in the Swedish TV show High Chaparall, in which he was interviewed over several days whilst carrying on his normal life.
In 2005, he took part in the ITV wrestling competition Celebrity Wrestling where he went under the moniker of "Gentleman Jim", and appeared on Heads Up with Richard Herring to discuss his life, career and his love of poker.
In 2005 Hewitt also appeared on Car Cruzin', a UK documentary series showcasing the cars of rich and notable individuals. On the show, Hewitt presented his Range Rover Sport, and also revealed the fact that he is not allowed to own firearms.
In 2005 he also appeared in Bullrun: Cops, Cars & Superstars II, riding with Ryan Dunn in one out of the five Bravo cars.
In 2006, he appeared on the BBC show Top Gear as a celebrity guest, achieving a lap time around the Top Gear test track in the Chevrolet Lacetti of 1:47.69. The presenters, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, failed to recognize him and he was thereafter referred to and added to the scoreboard as the "well-spoken man".
In May 2006, Hewitt starred as a contestant in The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars, alongside fellow kiss-and-tell "celebrity" Rebecca Loos, but was evicted after the final showdown on Thursday night (Night 4). He was mentored by Simon Cowell who, despite being supportive in his role, did not deny Hewitt's notable lack of vocal talent.
Featured in ITV "prank show" All New Celebrity Pranks with Frank Bruno in which Hewitt was "arrested" by two actors pretending to be policemen. Accusing Hewitt of using live firearms, they proceeded to have him fire paintball guns planted in the car to test the theory that "a bullet will come flying out of them". Finally the arresting officer declared that this was a prime case of "Guns, Birds, and Hewitt" and he was released without charge.
