Hill was born in Coventry, England; his father was an officer who served under Lord Wellington, and served at Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria, and Toulouse, and was later the reforming Governor of Leicester County Prison. Charles was more interested in art than a military career, and served an apprenticeship as line engraver to Mark Lambert in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1840 he enrolled in the Newcastle Fine Arts Academy and took lessons at the Government School of Design with W. B. Scott, later editor of "The Art Journal". He helped mount the posthumous exhibition of David Scott's works. He produced the engraving "The Choristers" after Barraud. He was one of those responsible for the famous engraving which depicted the opening on The Crystal Palace in 1851.