• Title
  Portrait miniatures of Captain William Hill and his younger brother Edward Hill in a cased locket
• Call number
  MIN 580
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  probably between 1779 and 1790
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Watercolours
• Reference code
  9675384
• Physical Description
  2 watercolours - gouache on ivory - visible oval image 40 x 30 mm, case 82 x 67 mm
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  William Hill (1760-1793), eldest son of successful mill owner William Hill in Gloucestershire acquired an ensigncy in the 87th (Worcestershire) regiment of foot in 1779 at the age of nineteen. He was appointed Second Captain of the New South Wales Corps on 6 June 1789, and commander of the detachment on the convict transport Surprize which brought convicts to New South Wales with the Second Fleet. He boarded the vessel on 18 November 1789 and arrived in Sydney on 26 June 1790. In April 1793 he left Sydney in a merchant ship Shah Hormuzear bound for Norfolk Island, Bengal and England. Hill went ashore with members of the ship’s company at Erub (Darnley) Island /Tate's Island, in the Torres Strait to barter for refreshments and water where he was subsequently killed.
  
  Reference:
  Library correspondence file
• Collection history
  By descent from Henry Edwards Hill, nephew of William Hill, and then passed to his son Edward Ormond Waters Hill (1845-1934), son of Edward Hill who was Captain William Hill’s younger brother and great grandfather to Penelope Hill.
• Scope and Content
  Double sided cased miniatures, watercolour and gouache on ivory, set in a gold locket with hair of the two sitters surrounding each portrait. Locket is held in its original red Morrocco goat case with a silk and hair lining, hanging device at the top and closing clasps at the right. Case measures 82 x 67 mm and cased miniatures in locket 85 x 63 mm. Miniatures, inset in gold both measure 40 x 30 mm.
  
  The image on the front, under curved glass, is of Captain William Hill as young man in a red military jacket with buff facings and powdered hair tied back in the military fashion. The portrait is surrounded by locks of hair. On the reverse, under flat glass, is an image of another young man in a blue coat, with looser powdered hair. This is said to be Edward Hill, the younger brother of William Hill. The portrait is surrounded by plaited hair.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright:
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• Date note
  
  Date early (1779) based on date William Hill joined the 87th Regiment, from notes compiled by Gary L. Sturgess in library correspondence file
• Subject
  Portrait painting--18th century--England
  Great Britain. Army. New South Wales Corps--Officers--Portraits.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE20795653

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