indeed, before he had passed his examination – he was appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the Calypso sloop, Capts. Joseph Baker and Robt. Barrie, on the Jamaica station; and in Dec. 1801 he joined, in a similar capacity, the Goliath 74, to which ship, commanded at first by Capt. Wm. Essington, and afterwards by Capts. Chas. Brisbane and Robt. Barton, he was in the end confirmed by commission dated 3 Sept. 1803. Mr. Higman (who on 28 June in the latter year had contributed, while in escort of a homeward-bound convoy, to the capture of La Mignonne French corvette, of 16 guns and 80 men) subsequently took command of the boats of the Goliath, and in a very seamanlike manner brought out a gun-brig from under a most destructive fire of the batteries at Sable d’Olonne, on the coast of France. Being next, on 28 May, 1805, allowed, on the application of Capt. Brisbane, to rejoin that officer, as his First-Lieutenant, in the Arethusa 38, he assisted, in company with the Anson 44, at the capture, 23 Aug. 1806, near the Havana, after a spirited action, in which the Arethusa had 2 men killed and 32 wounded, of the Pomona Spanish frigate, of 38 guns and 347 men, laden with specie and merchandize, and defended by a castle mounting 11 36-pounders, and a flotilla of 10 gun-boats, all of which were destroyed. A slight wound received by Mr. Higman on the occasion procured him a pecuniary grant from the Patriotic Society.[1] He was promoted, as a reward for the share he had borne at the brilliant reduction of Curaçoa, to the rank of Commander, 23 Feb. 1807; subsequently to which we find him joining – 18 Aug. 1809, the Rattler 16, on the Newfoundland station – 13 Jan. 1810, the Gluckstadt 18, employed in the conveyance of despatches to and from Gottenborg and Heligoland – 11 Feb. 1811, the Fly 16, which vessel, through the obstinacy of her pilots (although Capt. Higman’s exertions were so great as to elicit the plaudits of the subsequent court-martial), was lost on a reef near the island of Anholt 29 Feb. 1812 – and, 6 Dec. 1813, the Brisk 16. In the latter sloop he served for some time on the Irish station, where he contrived by stratagem to recapture a prize belonging to the American privateer Prince de Neufchâtel. He then proceeded with convoy to the coast of Africa, on which station he cruized for nearly twelve months, and took four slavers having between 700 and 800 negroes on board. Owing, however, to a suspension in the payment of the ordinary bounty, neither the officers nor crew of the Brisk (the first vessel that felt the effects of the regulation) received any reward for their exertions; and in consequence Capt. Higman was deprived of nearly 4000l. He was paid off 31 Aug. 1815, but it was not until 1 Jan. 1817 that he was advanced to Post-rank. Unable from that period to procure employment, he at length, on 1 Oct. 1846, accepted the half-pay of Retirement.
Capt. Higman is a widower with five sons, the eldest of whom, a Midshipman R.N., was lately serving with Capt. Glascock on board the Tyne 26. Agent – J. Hinxman.
HILL. (Lieutenant, 1815. f-p., 10; h-p., 32.)
Charles Hill entered the Navy, 1 Oct. 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Plantagenet 74, Capts. Wm. Bradley, Thos. Eyles, and Robt. Lloyd, in which ship he was for six years and a half employed, chiefly on the Home station. During that period, however, he witnessed the departure, in 1807, of the royal family of Portugal for the Brazils, and was for some time prior to the convention of Cintra engaged in blockading the Russian squadron in the Tagus. From March, 1812, until Oct. 1814, he was next employed, in the Baltic and Mediterranean, as Midshipman[2] and Master’s Mate, on board the Bristol troop-ship, Capts. Wm. Kent, John Thompson, and Geo. Wyndham, besides serving in a gun-boat at Cadiz. He was ultimately promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 6 Feb. 1815, while attached to the Lightning 20, Capt. Geo. Kennie, on the Irish station; but he has not, to our knowledge, been since afloat.
Lieut. Hill’s eldest daughter is married to a son of Lieut. John Skinley, R.N.
HILL. (Lieutenant, 1833. f-p., 19; h-p., 19.)
Charles Thomas Hill, born 4 July, 1796, is fourth and eldest surviving son of the late West Hill, Esq., M.D., Deputy Inspector of Hospitals, who accompanied Lord Cornwallis to America, was at the head of the Medical Staff during several campaigns in the War of Independence, and died in 1834 in the 93rd year of his age. Three of the Lieutenant’s brothers. West Tertius, John Hildebrand, and Justly, died officers in the Army; the first being a Lieutenant in the 5th Regt. Madras N.I. – the second a Captain and D.A.A. General in H.M. 27th – and the third a Lieutenant R.A. His youngest brother, Henry, is now serving in India as a Captain of the 57th. Lieut. Hill is first-cousin of the present Vice-Admiral Hill.
This officer entered the Navy, 13 July, 1809, as Fst.-cl. Vol. (under the auspices of his last-named relative), on board the Caesar 80, Capt. Chas. Richardson, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Wm. Albany Otway; and, on attending the ensuing expedition to the Walcheren, was employed on shore with the Naval Brigade during the bombardment of Flushing. He subsequently became Midshipman of the Naiad 38, commanded at first by Capt. Hill and afterwards by Capt. Philip Carteret, under whom he participated, 20 and 21 Sept. 1811, in two actions with divisions of the Boulogne flotilla. On the last-mentioned occasion the Naiad sustained a loss of 2 men killed and 14 wounded, but succeeded in taking one of the enemy’s prames, La Ville de Lyon; which vessel, of whose people upwards of 30 were either slain or wounded, Mr. Hill was the second officer to board. After further assisting at the capture and destruction of three privateers, he removed, in 1812, to the Impregnable 98, successive flag-ship of Admirals Wm. Young and H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence on the Home station, where, in June, 1814, he served in attendance on the Allied Sovereigns during their visit to England. He was next for two years employed in the West Indies and America on board the Araxes 38, Capt. Geo. Miller Bligh, and Tanais, of similar force, Capt. Joseph James; and he subsequently (having passed his examination 7 Nov. 1815) officiated as Admiralty-Midshipman, on the Plymouth, Mediterranean, and Portsmouth stations, of the Sealark schooner, Capt. Philip Helpman, Rochfort 80, flag-ship of Sir Thos. Eras. Fremantle and Sir Graham Moore, Glasgow 50, bearing the broad pendant of Hon. Anthony Maitland, Racehorse 18, Capt. Hon. Chas. Abbot, and Albion 74, Capt. Sir Wm. Hoste. In 1823 Mr. Hill, when at Portsmouth, volunteered to fit out a small schooner of 28 tons, designed as a tender to the flag-ship at Newfoundland; for his conduct and exertions in further navigating her to which place he elicited the approbation of the Admiralty. After an interval of eight years he re-embarked, in 1831, on board the Victory 104, in which ship he served at Portsmouth under the flags of Sir Thos. Foley and Sir Thos. Williams, until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 21 Aug. 1833. His after appointments afloat were – 14 Feb. and 27 Aug. 1834, to the President 52, and Vernon 50, both commanded by Capt. John M‘Kerlie, at Halifax and in the Mediterranean – 20 July, 1835, to the command of the Alban steam-vessel, on the latter station – and, for a short time at the commencement of 1836, to the Howe 120, Capt. Alex. Ellice, lying at Sheerness. With the exception of a few months spent in 1841-2 in raising volunteers at Glasgow and Greenock, he has not held any additional employment.
Lieut. Hill married, 16 June, 1828, Mary Romman, third daughter of John Holmes, Esq., an opulent merchant of Kingston-upon-Thames, by whom he has issue three sons and one daughter.
