Charles Hawley (June 15, 1792 – February 27, 1866) was an American politician, judge, and the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1838 to 1842.
Hawley was born in that part of Huntington, Connecticut, which now constitutes the town of Monroe. He graduated with honour at Yale College in 1813. He studied law, partly at Newton with Hon. Asa Chapman, soon after a judge at the Supreme Court, and partly at Litchfield with Judge Gould. He was admitted to the bar in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in 1815 or early 1816, and opened an office in Stamford. After a brief time in East Haddam, he returned to Stamford and remained there for the rest of his life. In 1824, he was appointed Judge of Probate for the district of Stamford, a district which then embraced many towns, an office which he held until 1838.
In 1821, he married Mary S. Holly, with whom he had children, most of whom survived him. He was a firm believer in the Christian religion and a member of the Congregational Church in Stamford.
Hawley repeatedly represented the town of Stamford in the House of Representatives of Connecticut and was also a Senator in the Connecticut State Senate. As a Whig, he held the office of Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut for four periods, from May 2, 1838 until May 4, 1842, while William W. Ellsworth was Governor of the state.
He died in Stamford on February 27, 1866, aged 74.
Memorials of Connecticut Judges and Attorneys, Charles Hawley as printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 32, pages 598-600