Richard Hawes (February 6, 1797 - May 25, 1877) was a United States Representative from Kentucky. He was a brother of Albert Gallatin Hawes, a nephew of Aylett Hawes, and a cousin of Aylett Hawes Buckner), who were also U.S. Representatives. Born near Bowling Green, Virginia, he moved to Kentucky in 1810 with his parents, who settled in Fayette County, near Lexington. He pursued classical studies at Transylvania University, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1824, commencing practice in Winchester. Richard Hawes served in the Black Hawk War amd was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1828, 1829, and 1834. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress.
Hawes was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1841). He moved to Paris, Kentucky in 1843 and continued the practice of law. On October 4, 1862, he was installed by Confederate sympathizers as Provisional Governor, and served until 1865. He was county judge in 1866, and later, in the same year, was chosen master commissioner of the circuit and common pleas courts. He served in this capacity until his death in Paris, Kentucky in 1877; interment was in Paris Cemetery.
