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The Hills Settle in Co Carlow
Richard Hill died in 1747 in Carlow, Ireland and
his will is in the Diocesan Registry of Ferns
and Leighlin12.
Richard had at least one son, Edward, and this
was recorded in John Ryan's 1833 "History and
Antiquities of the County of Carlow" on page
365. Hill: The ancestor of this family came from
England as an officer in the army of William lll.
Edward Hill Esq. married Catherine, daughter of
Henry Colclough of Kildavin, Esq., and
cousin-german of the late Beauchamp Bagnel, Esq.
Issue:
1.
John married Bridget, daughter of Nathaniel
Evans of Ballywilliamroe, Esq.
2.
Dudley married -Issue: Dudley St. Leger, now
Colonel Sir Dudley St. Leger Hill, K.C.B. Edward
Eustace married Georgiana Charlotte, daughter of
William, Earl of Albermarle, on 31st March 1827.
There is also an internet reference to a
“Beauchamp Bagnell Hill, uncle to Sir Dudley
Hill, collector of Armagh, born Ireland and
married Jane Parsons”. Beauchamp Bagnel Hill,
esq. married Miss Parsons, eldest daughter of
the late Richard P. esq. of Carrick on 20th
December 179313.
Beauchamp Hill is referred to in Cobbett’s
Parliamentary Debates Volume 14 as being “a
surveyor of excise”.
Edward Hill and Katherine Colclough were married
at Carlow on 6th August 174614.
Katherine Colclough’s grandparents were Dudley
Colclough and Mary Barnewall of Co Carlow and
the Colcloughs have a published history back to
Sir Anthony Colclough of Tintern Abbey in Co
Wexford with a less certain history leading to
before the Conquest. Dudley’s sixth son, Henry
Colclough married Margaret Beauchamp on 2nd
September 1729. Margaret was the daughter of
John Beauchamp of Ballyloughan Castle, Co Carlow
and the sister of Eleanor who married the famous
duellist Walter Bagenal.
Henry and Margaret are mentioned in a number of
records involving business and land dealings. In
1746, they were mentioned at The Rower Co
Kilkenny; in 1748 Henry was recorded at Grange,
Co Wexford and in 1751 Henry and his wife
Margaret were mentioned at New Ross, Co Wexford.
By 1755, they were settled at Kildavin, Co
Wexford, where Henry died in 1759. In 1766,
Margaret was involved with the settlement of
estates with her daughter-in-law, the widow
Bridget (McCarthy), probably due to the death of
her eldest surviving son Beauchamp. Beauchamp
and Bridget’s son Henry settled at Mount Sion,
Co Carlow and was later associated in dealings
with the Hill family. Henry of Sion married Anne
Crawford in 1783 while his younger brother
Beauchamp married Anne’s sister Catherine in
1785. In 1807, Henry was mentioned in records
with Katherine and Edward’s eldest son John Hill
of Barnhill Co Kildare.
A
lawyer in the family
Edward and Katherine’s son Dudley was an
attorney of Carlow and Dublin, and was probably
born in Dublin in about 1755. The King’s Inn
Admission Papers record Dudley Hill as an
attorney in the Exchequer in the Hilary Term of
1782. He married Lavinia Clarges at St Peters,
Dublin on 6th
August 1783.
Dudley’s older brother John married Bridget
Evans in Carlow on 27th
June 1775. Bridget’s death is recorded in
Monumental inscriptions for Clonmulsh, Co
Carlow, where a blue slab indented in the wall
of the church reads:
“Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Bridget Hill, this
monument is erected by an affectionate husband,
who with a number of bewailing children all rest
in hope that here many virtues on earth may be
rewarded in heaven by that omnipotent power who
is always merciful to his creatures as they are
obedient to his will. Knowing that her redeemer
liveth, resigning herself to his mercy, and
imploring his blessing on the family she was
leaving after her, she died on the 11th
of
July, 1814, in the 54th
year of her age.”
John was living at his residence at Barnhill Co
Carlow (or Kildare) in November 1821, when he
wrote the letter recorded in his grandson’s
contribution to Notes and Queries regarding
Captain Richard Hill. His wife Bridget was the
daughter of Nathaniel Evans and Maria Eustace.
Maria’s father, Edward Eustace, was married to
Bridget Longfield and he was a Carlow High
Sheriff. John probably had a son John Colclough
Hill whose wife Maria’s death was recorded in
the Sydney Mail15 of
14th October 1908.
An
internet entry provides some information about
Dudley from “Sources for Irish History” in the
Suffolk Record Office (Henniker collection).
“Brydges Trecothick Henniker was the senior
Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th Light Dragoons and
the youngest son of John Henniker of
Worlingworth Hall. At the time of the rebellion
of 1798, his son's regiment was stationed in
Carlow and took part in the battle there on 25th
May 1798. The ‘Register of Orders and
Proceedings in Suppressing the Rebellion’ was
‘drawn up by the under-sheriff Dudley Hill, who
attended with General Henniker and the
Magistrates’ who after the defeat of the rebels
were present to grant pardons. The orders were
directed to Edward Eustace, the High Sheriff,
and include a list of arms surrendered before
the outbreak of the rebellion. The account of
the battle is confined to Hill's role in
obtaining carts to remove the dead ‘about seven
hundred killed’. During the following days
‘Court martial’s commenced with many rebels
tried and found guilty, some sentenced to be
hanged shott transported and whipped”.
From 1801, Dudley appears in Directories at 48
Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin. In 1818, he was
Secretary to the Grand Jury for the County of
Carlow16
and was still listed in Parliamentary Papers as
a sub-sheriff of County Carlow in 1824. Dudley
was found in Directories from 1801 until 182517
and as a Deputy Sherriff in 1827.
Dudley died18 in
1833 in Carlow and Lavinia died in Dublin19,
aged 80, in 1840. Dudley and Lavinia’s children
include: _ Possibly George Clarges; _ Dudley St.
Leger, born in Co Carlow in about 1787; _
Catherine whose death is recorded in Monumental
inscriptions for Clonmulsh, Co Carlow. “Erected
to the memory of Catherine Hill, by her brother
Colonel Sir Dudley St. Leger Hill, K.C.B., whose
poignant grief for her irreparable loss, but
equals the love and fraternal affection he bore
her while alive. She died in Carlow, on the 28th
of Oct. 1817, in the 26th year of her age,
universally regretted by a numerous
acquaintance.” _ An internet entry refers to
Lavinia Hill, daughter of Dudley Hill of Carlow,
and sister of Major General Sir Dudley St. Leger
Hill. Lavinia was born about 1793 and married
William Parson in 1814. An Asylum Report in 1870
records, in the Principal Officers of District
Asylums, a Lavinia Parson at Carlow; _ the
youngest daughter Ellen married the Reverend
George Dawson of Fennagh Lodge in Co Carlow and
moved to Canada; _ Edward Eustace born about
1800.
A
marriage ends in divorce
Edward Eustace Hill was probably named for
Edward Eustace who was a High Sheriff of Carlow;
a contemporary of his father. He was
commissioned in the 5th
(Northumberland) Regiment of Foot in 1812, was
promoted to Captain in 1824 and transferred to
the 96th
Regiment of Foot in 1825. He married Lady
Georgiana Charlotte Keppel on 31st
March 1827 in London, when Dudley St Leger was
one of the witnesses. Georgiana was born in
Suffolk on 15th
July 1806, the daughter of William Charles
Keppel and Elizabeth Southwell. In 1837 Edward
or Eustace was a Captain Inspector of Police at
Trim, Co Meath in Ireland and he resigned his
army commission in 1838. He became a stipendiary
magistrate in Co Longford and was listed in this
position at least until 1856. By 1845, Georgiana
had given birth to 12 children, of whom 10 were
still living; there are 5 known sons and 3
daughters. One daughter Annie Maud Margaret
married General Sir Hugh Henry Gough on 8th
September 1863 at Simla in the Punjab.Edward and
Georgiana were divorced in June1849 after she
left Edward to live with Captain William Magan.
The “Times” ran detailed accounts of the
proceedings and Edward Hill recovered £2200 in
damages from Captain Magan as a result of the
affair. Georgiana married William Henry Magan on
4th
August 1849 and she died on 30th
March 1854. Edward died aged 62, at Finglass
near Dublin on 30th
April 186120.
Was George Clarges Hill a member of the family?
A
George Clarges Hill was commissioned into the
44th Regiment as an ensign in1803. He was
promoted, at least to the rank of Captain, when
he served with the regiment in Malta. A history
of Malta relates that, as a young Lieutenant in
the Grenadier Company of the 44th,
he attended a ball in Valetta, where he was
introduced to the daughter of a Maltese
merchant, and danced with her several times
throughout the evening. Early next morning he
was surprised to find her at his quarters,
particularly when she told him that she had left
her parents home in order to live with him. No
doubt taken aback, he persuaded her to return
home, and for her safety ordered his servant to
accompany her. News of the girl’s folly was soon
known, but the Maltese were impressed by his
gallant conduct. There is a record of Captain
George Clarges Hill being severely wounded and
he may have died as a result of these wounds.
A
long and active military career commences
Dudley St Leger Hill was born in Carlow in about
1787; the eldest son of Dudley Hill and his
wife, Lavinia Clarges, the eldest daughter of
George Clarges and Levina St Leger. His service
record shows that he entered the army at the age
of 17 on the 6th
September 1804, as an Ensign without purchase21,
in the 1st
Battalion 82nd
Foot, which he joined at the Curragh of Kildare.
Many official records have Dudley’s birth date
around 1790 but a record of his career in a book
on Monumental Inscriptions in the Punjab22
and Oman’s “A history of the Peninsula War”
agree with the 1787 date.
During 1804 and 1805, he served with the 82nd
Foot under General Lord Cathcart, Commander of
the Forces in Ireland, including Mullingar in
County Meath and in garrison duty in Dublin. On
the 10th
October 1805, he was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant in the newly formed 2nd
Battalion of the 95th
Foot (later the Rifle Brigade), which was based
at Faversham near Canterbury, Kent. In October
1806, he embarked from Portsmouth, with three
companies of the 2nd
Battalion and five companies of the 1st/95th
for the expedition to South America under Sir
Samuel Auchmuty.
Spain’s 1795 alliance with France applied
equally in the South American colonies, and the
British used the war with France as pretence to
extend their commercial interests in the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The region
roughly contained the territories of present day
Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. When
Spain lost its navy in the Battle of Trafalgar,
the Spanish prime minister warned the
Viceroyalty of the likelihood of a British
invasion, and that in such an event the city of
Buenos Aires would be on its own. On 27th
June 1806, a small British force of around 1,500
men under Colonel William Carr Beresford
successfully invaded Buenos Aires.
The British forces were thrown back on the 12th
August 1806, by a militia force under the
leadership of Santiago de Liniers. Beresford
surrendered and was imprisoned but later escaped
and rejoined the attacking forces at Montevideo.
The British sent reinforcements from other South
American, South African and Caribbean military
posts. When Auchmuty arrived he was given
command of the force of about 7000 troops.
Dudley Hill was present with the Rifle Brigade
detachment at the landing at Maldonado in
Uruguay on 16th
January 1807, at the mouth of the River Plate
(la Plata), which was the groundwork for the
seizure of Montevideo. Santiago de Liniers, who
was encamped near Colonia del Sacramento, which
had formerly belonged to the Portuguese,
received orders to defend Montevideo, but his
2000 strong militia could not stop the British
force attacking from Maldonado.
In
the siege and capture by storm of Montevideo, it
is documented that Dudley Hill volunteered to
lead the forlorn hope, and he commanded the
party that escaladed the walls and took
possession of the north gate of the fortress.
This is disputed, though, as the Freeman’s
Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser of 29th
September 1843 reported that Colonel Everard of
the 14th
Regiment lead the forlorn hope, the achievement
ascribed to Sir Dudley St Leger Hill. However,
Montevideo was captured after a fierce fight on
3rd
February 1807.
The Rifle Brigade established an outpost at
Colonia del Sacramento, which was situated on a
neck of land with a mud wall from water to water
but there was a considerable breach in this
wall. A column of Spaniards from Buenos Aires
stormed this post one night, and nearly carried
the breach by surprise. The Spanish took up a
position not far from Colonia at San Pedro, but
Colonel Dennis Pack decided to attack them on
the night of 6th
June. Dudley Hill was involved in this action
with the Brigade, which scattered the Spanish in
a 20minute attack, but he was reported to have
been severely wounded.
In
May, Lieutenant General John Whitelock had
arrived to take overall command, but the British
were under a great deal of pressure as the local
population was in open rebellion. In June,
General Robert Craufurd arrived from South
Africa with the last regiment that Whitelock
believed he required for a successful assault on
Buenos Aires. Craufurd's men were not allowed to
leave their ships and by the 28th
of
June 1807, eight thousand British soldiers
started to land south of the city.
Whitelock split his forces into two columns; one
consisting of the light troops under General
Craufurd and a heavy Brigade under Major-General
Levenson-Gower. Levenson-Gower’s column was in
advance of the main body and his orders were to
march up to the enemy’s outposts and take up a
position. However, Levenson-Gower ignored his
orders and immediately attacked the enemy in the
suburbs and drove them in with great loss,
leaving their cannon behind them. Having
committed himself, in lieu of following up the
advantage he had gained and pushing forward into
Buenos Aires which would have immediately
surrendered, he halted his column and then took
up a position. The enemy recovered from their
panic, and with the utmost vigour turned to and
fortified the entrances of all the streets.
On
the 4th
July 1807, General Whitelock arrived with his
column and having reconnoitred the enemy, drove
in their outposts, and partially invested the
city. The next day, a general attack was then
ordered in four columns.
However, Buenos Aires was much more strongly
defended that the British had expected, with the
whole city involved in the defence and the
British suffered heavy casualties. Two colonels
of the 95th,
Dennis Pack andHenry Cadogan, made a last
attempt to capture the main square, but the
troops they lead suffered heavy losses, as
defenders concealed in the building of the
National College targeted them. The survivors of
the attack took shelter in a church and a
government building, but the buildings were
assaulted and the light troops suffered so
heavily that Craufurd surrendered that evening.
Dudley Hill was wounded in the thigh and taken
prisoner. After losing more than half his force
killed and captured, Whitelock signed a
cease-fire with Santiago de Liniers: the British
would leave not only Buenos Aires but Montevideo
as well. As a concession, Liniers allowed all of
Beresford’s men that were still prisoners to be
released. Whitelock was later court marshalled
and dismissed from the army.
Source:
Rodney Kerr c.2010
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