Hawker was born in Exeter in 1753 to Jacob Hawker, a surgeon in Exeter. He was married aged 19 to Anna Rains,^[1] and they had eight children altogether.

Hawker studied medicine in Plymouth under Samuel White of Bretonside, and joined the Royal Marines as assistant surgeon. In 1778 he entered Magdalen College, Oxford.

• Comb, George (1827) A Tribute of Respect to Departed Greatness: being the substance of a sermon, delivered on occasion of the decease of the Rev. Robert Hawker, D.D. Vicar of Charles, Plymouth, at Soho Chapel, Oxford Street, London, Lord's day evening, 15 April 1827. London: Ebenezer Palmer
• Mutter, George (1827) Zion's Faithful Priest: a sermon, occasioned by the death of the late Rev. Robert Hawker, D.D. Vicar of Charles, Plymouth: delivered on Sunday evening, 22 April 1827, at the Broadway Church, St. Margaret's, Westminster / by the Rev. George Mutter, A.M. minister of Broadway Church. London: Ebenezer Palmer
• Palmer, Ebenezer (1826) Prospectus of a handsome, uniform edition of the works of the Rev. Robert Hawker ... London: printed for E. Palmer
• Williams, John, minister of Stroud (1831) Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Robert Hawker, D.D., late Vicar of Charles, Plymouth. London: E. Justins & Son, printers

• My Brethren (organization). "Rev Robert Hawker". Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
• Poor Man Devotional). "Robert Hawker Poor Man Devotional". Retrieved 12 June 2009.
• Works by Robert Hawker at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)