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The Prodigal Rake: Memoirs of William Hickey
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
468 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1774
About the author
William Hickey
69 books1 followerWilliam 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 seven hundred and forty closely written 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.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 19, 2025
An 18th century memoir, entertaining in parts, with some insights into life at the time, but also very long. My edition had 437 pages and a tiny text size, so it takes a fair while.
Born in 1749, Hickey started writing this memoir in 1808, after he returned to Britain from a successful legal career in Bengal. The book’s Preface suggests he was “obliged to give up his practice, much against his will.” He decided to write this book as a way of keeping his mind active, commenting that it could not “in any way be interesting to those unacquainted with me, and indeed, not very much so even to my most attached friends”. Yet here I am reading it more than 200 years later!
This memoir has been compared to Boswell’s journals, and I can see why. Boswell was addicted to gambling, drinking, and visiting prostitutes. Hickey managed to avoid the gambling:
“…I have never felt the least inclination to gamble, and have at least escaped the evils attending that vice. Would it were in my power to say the same of many other vices, especially those of women and wine, but truth will not admit of it, in these two excesses I have too freely indulged.”
Hickey began his riotous lifestyle when he was about 13, and he funded it by thieving cash from his father’s legal business. It must be admitted he has a good turn of phrase, and I couldn’t help laughing at some of his exploits. He’s a contradiction in some ways. He’s always keen to tell us how popular and respected he was about town, and it’s clear from the book that he was as vain as a peacock. At the same time he is willing to poke fun at his younger self. He also describes events where he got so drunk as to make a complete spectacle of himself, and not an edifying one.
The front cover of the edition I read features part of The Tavern Scene in Hogarth’s paintings of The Rake’s Progress. A drunken Tom Rakewell is accosted by two prostitutes, one of whom has just stolen his pocketwatch. It’s noticeable that both women have a number of facial skin lesions, indications of syphilis infection, and recognised as such at the time. Rakewell also seems to have least one such lesion, a sign of its prevalence in the 18th century. Unsurprisingly, Hickey was also infected. At one point he had ulcers inside his mouth so large that the doctor who examined him was surprised he was still able to eat. Mercury pills were the standard “treatment” in this era. Mercury is of course highly toxic, and it’s clear from Hickey’s description that the treatment nearly killed him. The good old days!
At various times Hickey travelled to the Caribbean, to China and of course to India. On his trip back from China he describes how the ship’s officers sold substantial amounts of tea to smugglers, with the latter then being chased by Customs officers. There was no income tax in Britain then, and the government raised most of its money from duties on imports. There was massive smuggling though, to evade the taxes. Tariffs are back in the news these days, so it was interesting to see the extent to which respectable people like sea captains participated in the smuggling business. Judging from Hickey’s descriptions of his voyages, 18th century sea travel was even more dangerous than I had supposed.
As Hickey got older he calmed down and became a more respectable member of society, though he still throws in the occasional good story. Overall, about a 3.5 rounded up.
Born in 1749, Hickey started writing this memoir in 1808, after he returned to Britain from a successful legal career in Bengal. The book’s Preface suggests he was “obliged to give up his practice, much against his will.” He decided to write this book as a way of keeping his mind active, commenting that it could not “in any way be interesting to those unacquainted with me, and indeed, not very much so even to my most attached friends”. Yet here I am reading it more than 200 years later!
This memoir has been compared to Boswell’s journals, and I can see why. Boswell was addicted to gambling, drinking, and visiting prostitutes. Hickey managed to avoid the gambling:
“…I have never felt the least inclination to gamble, and have at least escaped the evils attending that vice. Would it were in my power to say the same of many other vices, especially those of women and wine, but truth will not admit of it, in these two excesses I have too freely indulged.”
Hickey began his riotous lifestyle when he was about 13, and he funded it by thieving cash from his father’s legal business. It must be admitted he has a good turn of phrase, and I couldn’t help laughing at some of his exploits. He’s a contradiction in some ways. He’s always keen to tell us how popular and respected he was about town, and it’s clear from the book that he was as vain as a peacock. At the same time he is willing to poke fun at his younger self. He also describes events where he got so drunk as to make a complete spectacle of himself, and not an edifying one.
The front cover of the edition I read features part of The Tavern Scene in Hogarth’s paintings of The Rake’s Progress. A drunken Tom Rakewell is accosted by two prostitutes, one of whom has just stolen his pocketwatch. It’s noticeable that both women have a number of facial skin lesions, indications of syphilis infection, and recognised as such at the time. Rakewell also seems to have least one such lesion, a sign of its prevalence in the 18th century. Unsurprisingly, Hickey was also infected. At one point he had ulcers inside his mouth so large that the doctor who examined him was surprised he was still able to eat. Mercury pills were the standard “treatment” in this era. Mercury is of course highly toxic, and it’s clear from Hickey’s description that the treatment nearly killed him. The good old days!
At various times Hickey travelled to the Caribbean, to China and of course to India. On his trip back from China he describes how the ship’s officers sold substantial amounts of tea to smugglers, with the latter then being chased by Customs officers. There was no income tax in Britain then, and the government raised most of its money from duties on imports. There was massive smuggling though, to evade the taxes. Tariffs are back in the news these days, so it was interesting to see the extent to which respectable people like sea captains participated in the smuggling business. Judging from Hickey’s descriptions of his voyages, 18th century sea travel was even more dangerous than I had supposed.
As Hickey got older he calmed down and became a more respectable member of society, though he still throws in the occasional good story. Overall, about a 3.5 rounded up.
June 8, 2017
Very entertaining memoirs of a late 18th Century attorney - although most of the fun parts are from when he was an awful young man (boozing it up, sleeping with everyone in reach, brawling, embezzling from his father's business, getting clapped up, blowing off various jobs that he father got him, dueling, etc.). During his career he was back and forth between England, India, Jamaica, and China - journeys which included at least one shipwreck, various tropical diseases and getting captured by the French. Somewhat similar to Boswell's journals, but without all the literary name dropping (also, unlike the young Boswell, Hickey was always able to identify a prostitute).
December 14, 2009
My father gave me this to read as Hickey was an ancestor of ours. I found it fascinating and realized that I may have a few of his genes. An honest incite into the times that he lived, and an indication of how little has changed for the individuals experiences in life.
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January 14, 2026A Book Owned by F. Scott Fitzgerald: https://static-prod.lib.princeton.edu...
December 22, 2009
All memoirs should be this entertaining. Hickey was a scamp -- not bad enough for prison, but wild enough to shame his mother. He traveled extensively, so his memoirs give glimpses into 18th-century modes of transport, plus life in Jamaica and other destinations.
December 29, 2021
Excellent personal recollections on mid-18th century sea travel and colonial society in India and China.
April 11, 2013
Love this book! Proof that things never change!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews