In the year 1809 was interred, in the churchyard of St. Martin’s-in-the
Fields, the body of one Hew Hewson, who died at the age of 85. He was
the original of Hugh Strap, in Smollett’s _Roderick Random_. Upwards of
forty years he kept a hair-dresser’s shop in St. Martin’s parish; the
walls were hung round with Latin quotations, and he would frequently
point out to his customers and acquaintances the several scenes in
_Roderick Random_ pertaining to himself, which had their origin, not in
Smollett’s inventive fancy, but in truth and reality. The meeting in a
barber’s shop at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the subsequent mistake at the inn,
their arrival together in London, and the assistance they experienced
from Strap’s friend, are all facts. The barber left behind an annotated
copy of _Roderick Random_, showing how far we are indebted to the genius
of the author, and to what extent the incidents are founded in reality.