Let's test if the module works. Can you simply hit /node/1.json from the browser? That should render up a json copy of the first node.
Is person a node content type, a new entity type or the user entity? If it is node or user, then restws already supports those out of the box. All you have to do (for a GET) is append .json on the request. Also, make the user that you connect with has appropriate permissions. If you use basic authentication, that means crafting a BA header that includes the base64 encoded REST application id and password and passing it along with the request.
Another helpful feature I've used with restws; I run advanced rest client through xdebug. All that is necessary for that is to add the xdebug cookie to the headers. Then put a break point and step through the code.
Cookie: XDEBUG_SESSION=%idekey%