Hawkins was the son of Francis Henry Albert Hawkins (Vicar of All Soul's Clapton Park, Rector of All Saints' Highgate and Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral London) and Mary Anne Ridley Hawkins.
In October 1914, Hawkins was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment and was a Ccptain attached to the Royal Flying Corps by the time of his marriage in 1917. He married Margaret Lacey (1890-1977), daughter of Canon Thomas Alexander Lacey at All Saints' Church, Highgate on 4 June 1917.
Hawkins had five children:
John C L Hawkins 1918
Dorothy A Hawkins 1920
Patricia Hawkins 1923
Robert A Hawkins 1925
Margaret S Hawkins 1930
He received a Master of Arts degree in 1919. He was ordained a deacon in 1919 and a priest in 1920.