# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hill, Henry

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​HILL. (Vice-Admiral of the Red, 1841. f-p., 22; h-p., 38.)
Henry Hill, born about 1775, is son of the late Colonel Wm. Hill, of St. Boniface, in the Isle of Wight, who served during the German war as Aide-de-Camp to Count de Lippe, and was afterwards for some time Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed. He is brother of Lieut.-Colonel Chas. Fitzmaurice Hill, who commanded the 10th Regt. of Foot, and died in 1811; and first-cousin of the present Lieut. Chas. Thos. Hill, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 10 Nov. 1787, as a Volunteer (under the auspices of Sir John Jervis), on board the Vestal 28, Capt. Sir Rich. John Strachan, with whom he proceeded on an embassy to China, and removed as Midshipman, about Aug. 1791, to the Phoenix 36. On 19 of the following Nov., while cruizing off the Malabar coast, he took part, in company with the Perseverance frigate, in an obstinate action (produced by a resistance on the part of the French Captain to a search being imposed by the British upon two merchant-vessels under his orders) with La Résolue of 46 guns, whose colours were not struck until she had herself sustained a loss of 25 men killed and 40 wounded, and had occasioned one to the Phoenix of 6 killed and 11 wounded. On his return to England in the autumn of 1793, Mr. Hill joined the Boyne 98, bearing the flag of Sir John Jervis, through whom he was promoted, on 17 Dec. in the same year, to a Lieutenancy in the Zebra bomb, Capts. Robt. Faulknor, Geo. BoVen, Geo. Vaughan, and Lancelot Skynner. In 1794 he was present in every distinguished operation connected with the reduction of the French West India islands, and in particular at the capture of Fort Royal, Martinique, where, landing with Capt. Faulknor, he participated in the heroic attack which, to the admiration of all who witnessed it, accomplished the premature fall of that stronghold. In March, 1795, he was again sent on shore, with a detachment of seamen and a 6-pounder, to co-operate with the British forces on the island of St. Vincent in their endeavours to suppress an insurrection which had there broken out among the Charibs. On the 14th, the insurgents having taken possession of Dorchester Hill, an eminence immediately commanding the town of Kingston, which they were preparing to cannonade, Mr. Hill suggested the propriety of driving them from their position; and accordingly, at midnight, his plan being adopted, he placed himself at the head of a storming-party, commanded by Capt. Skynner, and, commencing a furious assault, succeeded in utterly routing the enemy – thereby restoring confidence to the inhabitants of the colony, and saving its fall. In this brilliant affair, however, so desperate a wound was inflicted on his right shoulder, that he was obliged, as soon as the victory had been achieved, to retire to his ship, and soon afterwards to return home. Previously to his final departure from the island Mr. Hill had the satisfaction of receiving the thanks of the Governor and the House of Assembly, together with the most marked attention and the strongest expressions of gratitude from all classes. He was promoted to the rank of Commander on 24 of the following July; and in Feb. 1797 he had the further honour of being mentioned with Capt. Skynner in a letter of thanks from the Agents for the colony of St. Vincent. Continuing long to feel the effects of his wound, Capt. Hill remained on half-pay until the spring of 1798, when he was appointed to the Sea-Fencibles in the Isle of Wight. From 27 June, 1799, until posted, 1 Jan. 1801, he commanded the Gorgon 44, armée en flûte, in the Mediterranean; and also the Megaera fire-vessel on the Channel station, where he had a narrow escape from capture while reconnoitring the French fleet in Camaret Bay, with a view to ascertaining the practibility of burning it. His next appointments were – 3 Jan. 1801, for a very brief period, to the Princess Royal 98 – 8 March, and 14 June, 1802, to the Ruby 64, and Camilla 24, in the latter of which ships he went to Newfoundland – 29 April, 1803, to the Orpheus 32, employed at first in escorting convoy to Newfoundland, and then in very successfully cruizing on the coast of France – 14 Dec. 1805, to the Agincourt 64, stationed in the North Sea and off St. Helena – and 1 Sept. 1809, after 18 months of half-pay, to the Naiad 38. In the latter ship Capt. Hill, besides visiting the West Indies, was much employed, until superseded in the summer of 1811, in blockading the enemy’s ports on the French coast. On one occasion, when in a gale off Cherbourg, the pilot, in attempting to pass through the Monkey Passage, by the island of Alderney, failed, and, by his ignorance, placed the Naiad in a state of great jeopardy, from which she was only extricated by dint of the greatest exertion and skill, and by a hitherto unknown outlet being found in the rocks called the Casketts. This accident occurred in 1810; in the course of which year the Naiad appears to have been in constant action with the enemy’s batteries, and to have destroyed much of their coasting-trade. Capt. Hill’s last appointments were, 20 Dec. 1825, and 31 March, 1826, to the Superb 78, guard-ship at Portsmouth, and Melville 74; in the latter of which he served, on the coast of Portugal and at Gibraltar, until shortly previous to her being paid off, 28 Feb. 1829. He became a Rear-Admiral 22 July, 1830; and attained his present rank 23 Nov. 1841. In every ship commanded by the Vice-Admiral when afloat he won the approbation of the Admiralty. In the Melville he was particularly fortunate in eliciting that of H.R.H. the Lord High Admiral. On 26 Feb. 1845 he was granted the Good Service pension; and he is also in the receipt of a pension of 250l. for his wound.
​He married, first, Anne, daughter of the late Rev. Jas. Worsley, of Gatcombe, in the Isle of Wight; and secondly, Caroline, daughter of the late Joseph Bettesworth, Esq., of Ryde, in the same island. He has issue, with four daughters, six sons, all of whom are in the service of their country – the eldest, Henry Worsley, a Commander, and the youngest, Edward, a Lieutenant, R.N. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.