John Hill was born in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England on 3rd June, 1808, to parents William Hill and Mary Sheen, both were deceased by the time John was just 5 years old. His father passed away the year John was born. It is not known who raised John but at an early age he expressed his determination to be a sailor and entered the Royal Navy when he was 16 years old. He was 28 years old when he arrived in South Australia, having spent 12 years in the Navy.
JOHN HILL C. 1836
John Hill was a very important officer on the ship “Buffalo”. The duties of the Boatswain (Bosun for short) were numerous; his most important being the care of all sails, rigging, etc and seeing that the work on board went smoothly. He issued commands by means of the famous bosun’s whistle, which all able bodied seamen were always on the alert to respond to. The “Buffalo” arrived in South Australian waters on 24th December, 1836 (Christmas Eve) at Port Lincoln. There Captain Hindmarsh found the barge “Cygnet” waiting for him, Captain J. Polls of that boat requested Captain Hindmarsh proceed to Holdfast Bay (now called Glenelg).
Colonel William Light who came out earlier than either the “Cygnet” or “Buffalo” had decided on the present site of Adelaide for the capital in preference to either Port Lincoln or Kingscote, and sent the “Cygnet”, as he was busy marking out the new capital. Light’s boat was the Rapid of 161 tons (about the size of the “Karratta”, which runs to Kangaroo Island).
One can picture the “Buffalo” sailing up St. Vincent’s Gulf and dropping anchor about half a mile off shore, one can see the officers and passengers eagerly gazing landwards after their voyage of 5 months via Spithead 23/7/1836, St. Helen’s 3/8/1836 and Rio de Janeiro 12/10/1836.
There is an interesting but caustic diary of the voyage written by M. George Stevenson, in which there are records of the disagreements, difficulties and trials of the voyage. The two most serious problems of the passengers seemed to be shortage of water and an over-supply of animals. He speaks of the smell of hogs in a horrid state of dirt. There were also dogs, cats, mules, turkeys, guineafowl, geese and other poultry. Most of these belonged to Captain Hindmarsh, who did not add to his popularity when at Rio de Janeiro where they called for water, he added 8 or 10 more half-grown hogs to the cargo. Mr. Stevenson records that the water allowance was cut down one pint a day a passenger to allow these animals to be kept.
Passenger daily journals/diaries of the 5 months journey at sea can be viewed on website bound-for-south-australia collections.
John Hill would have had a particularly busy time supervising the fitting of sails and dropping of anchors and general clean-up of the ship. He would then have reported to Captain Hindmarsh that everything was ready for going ashore. At 12 noon the order was given to lower boats and the historic party was on the way, all dressed up in uniforms as regards officers and men, for the “Buffalo” was a man-o-war. The actual landing was made at one o’clock. Holdfast Bay was a sea of tents, the Vice Regal party were shown to Robert Gouger’s tent (he was the colonial secretary sent out some months before on the “Africaine”). The Governor then read to all present, the orders of the British Government appointing the Province; George Stevenson, the first secretary to our first Governor then read the Governor’s proclamation.
The “Buffalo” then fired a Royal Salute and John Hill’s historic action of hoisting the British flag was carried out. The Governor then mixed with the people and shook hands all round. He then invited them all to a cold collation of salt beef, salt pork and a few bottles of all porter and wine. Thus, South Australia became a reality and the name John Hill will go down in history as the man who hoisted the flag of the freedom over the new colony, and his name will always be remembered in commemoration celebrating Founders Day.
The “Buffalo” stayed in Holdfast Bay for approximately 6 months, the crew being employed in assisting to erect new settlers’ huts. On June 14th, 1837 the Buffalo left for New Zealand via Sydney. John Hill did not go to New Zealand and remained in South Australia as a settler. There was an agreement with the crews of ships coming to Australia that they could land as new settlers and remain in the country provided they carried out the immigration laws and had enough money to have a reasonable chance of maintaining themselves until established.
John Hill evidently had all the necessary qualifications, for on the selling of the first town acres in the new capital of Adelaide; he was the successful purchaser of Town Acre 385 situated on the north side of Gouger Street about half way down – it would be somewhere near where Morphett Street cuts across Gouger Street. The town acre has of course been cut up and sold to various buyers. That Town Acre in 1960 had an estimated value of approximately $500,000.
He remained at Government House until Governor Hindmarsh left the Colony, where he then worked on a sheep station at South Para for Messrs. Fisher and Handcock, and on leaving there began working for himself, carting bush hay to an Adelaide firm for £8 per ton. He then carted water from Woodville to Adelaide but lost three of his horses which was a heavy blow. Even though the site for the capital was chosen ultimately because of the permanent water supply, water remained a problem. The Colony was somewhat of an experiment. It was not a convict colony, rather it was to be rational, orderly and optimistic and settled with people of good moral fibre. Water supply became one of the first concerns. And the most immediate source of supply to the settlement was by means of the water carters like John Hill. Water carters remained for some time, the most pampered groups in the new society. Water carts were the only wheeled transport exempted from tolls, licences and fees. It is thought that at this time he lived at either Hindmarsh or Woodville, three of his sons being born there.
In an effort to better his luck, John Hill went to the Victorian Goldfields, where he fared moderately well. On his return from Victoria he again became a carter, this time between Adelaide and Burra. It is not known when the family moved to Kapunda but son George was born there in 1850.
Mr Hill eventually found his way to Kapunda, no doubt like many others, to see if he could make a fortune out of the copper mines. Copper was first found by Captain Agot and Mr. F.S. Dutton in 1842, six years after the founding of the colony. In no time Kapunda became the most important town in South Australia and both John and his wife Mary are buried in the Clare Road Cemetery. The Royal Geographical or Historical Society on the centenary of the state in 1936, carried out the work of finding out where the graves of early pioneers were, and where necessary restoring the graves and erecting suitable tombstones. Over John and Mary’s grave is a white marble stone, headed “A Pioneer”, then underneath a carving of the old gum tree at Glenelg. Underneath is a citation that John Hill arrived on the Buffalo on 28/12/1836 and hoisted the flag at the Proclamation, also Mary Hill, wife of the above who died April 2nd, 1983 aged 84 years.
John Hill’s obituary appears in the South Australian Register on page 2, April 11th, 1885 and reads:
Death of Pioneers – Our Kapunda correspondent mentions that bluff, hearty old John Hill the boatswain of the Buffalo, who hoisted the flag at Glenelg when the colony was proclaimed, died on Thursday evening, after an illness of four months. He was 77 years of age, and during his life enjoyed the very best of health until recently, when he was attacked by bronchitis. During his illness he suffered a great deal. He leaves a widow.
Founder Leon Hill – is a direct descendant of John Hill who arrived as the Bosun on HMS Buffalo to participate in the establishment of the colony of South Australia in 1836.
LEON HILL C. 1986
