sketcher, naval officer, public servant and settler, was born in England. He joined the Royal Navy in October 1805 as a volunteer first class. In 1806 he became a midshipman and between May 1809 and August 1812 served at the Baltic and Channel stations. He was promoted lieutenant on 20 November 1812. With his wife ('Plain to disgust almost’, according to G.T.W.B. Boyes ), Samuel Hill came to Van Diemen’s Land on half pay from the navy on board the Berwick in July 1823. He was granted 2000 acres on the Elizabeth River near Campbell Town soon after his arrival and named the property Gaddesden. Sworn in as a magistrate in May 1825, he was appointed port officer for Hobart Town and superintendent of government vessels in January 1829. By 1832 he had an estate of some 10,000 acres known as Quorn Hall (later painted by Henry Gritten ). During his years in Tasmania, Hill was a member of the 'Committee for the care and treatment of Aborigines’. He also played a very active role in the organisation of the annual Hobart Town regatta.
Hill was a friend and sketching companion of Boyes who considered him a talented amateur artist. After the arrival of John Glover in 1831, the two often visited to discuss painting. When returning to England in 1832 to bring out his wife and family, Boyes was commissioned 'To procure a camera obscura for Hill – upon the fashion as far as concerns the medium of reflection of that he is now making use of’. Described as being of a 'vigorous inventive disposition’, Hill must have been one of the first to use a camera obscura in Van Diemen’s Land (since his old one had presumably come to the colony with him).
Hill resigned as port officer in August 1832 and moved to Gaddesden. In the late 1830s he sold the property and, using Launceston as a base, began travelling back and forth to England. He often visited Hobart Town during this period and through Boyes met Sir John and Lady Franklin , becoming a good friend of the latter. Finally leaving Van Diemen’s Land on 19 May 1846, the Hills retired to Bath, England.
- Writers:
- Brown, Tony
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
