Robert Chambre Hill

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Sir Robert Chambre Hill, CB (25 March 1778 – 5 March 1860) was a British Army cavalry officer who fought in the Peninsular War and was wounded while in command of the Royal Horse Guards at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Background[edit]

He was born on 25 March 1778 at Hawkstone Hall near Prees, Shropshire, the fourth son of Sir John Hill, 3rd Baronet, a Shropshire farmer and landowner, and Mary, daughter and co-heir to John Chambré of Petton, Shropshire. One of his elder brothers was Rowland, later Viscount Hill.[1]

Career[edit]

Educated at Rugby School from 1788,[2] Hill was appointed a cornet in the 6th Dragoons on 29 July 1795. Promotion to lieutenant followed on 26 August 1796 and to captain on 15 June 1804. He then transferred as a major to the Royal Horse Guards (Blues) on 15 November 1805 and received his brevet promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 1 January 1819.[3]

He commanded the Blues during the Peninsular War and led a brigade of cavalry at the 1813 Battle of Vitoria, for which he received the Army Gold Medal.[3] At Waterloo, Hill, while a commander of the Royal Horse Guards, was wounded when a musket ball entered his right shoulder and passed through his arm.[4] Despite the injury, Hill remained on the battlefield until close to the completion of the action.[5]

For his services in the battle he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB),[6] a Knight of the Russian Order of St. George of the Fourth Class,[7] and a Knight of the Austrian Order of Maria Theresa.[8]

He was knighted by the Prince Regent on 29 May 1812 as a proxy for his brother, Rowland, who was already a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath.[9]

Hill later became Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire, a magistrate for the Wem and Whitchurch divisions,[4] and a Commissioner of Income and Property Taxes for the latter.[10]

Family[edit]

Robert Hill married Eliza Lumley, daughter of Henry Lumley, on 5 February 1801,[6] and they had the following children:[1]

  • George Stavely Hill (born 1801), married Jane Borough, daughter of Thomas Borough, in 1832
  • Captain Alfred Edward Hill (born 19 March 1810), married a daughter of the Earl of Kilmorey on 9 April 1839
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Hill (born 24 December 1817), married Harriet Cecilia Steuart, daughter of Captain John Steuart; served 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles)
  • Mary Julia Hill

His younger brothers Clement and Thomas also followed military careers; they were all present at the Battle of Waterloo, along with their elder brother, Lord Hill.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Burke 1869, p. 584.
  2. ^ The Rugby Register, from the Year 1675 to the Present Time. Second Edition, Revised and Corrected. (Continuation of the Rugby Register. Entrances in August, MDCCCXXXVIII [-August, MDCCCXXXIX].) MS. Notes. T. Combe & Company. 1838. p. 90.
  3. ^ a b Philippart 1820, p. 247.
  4. ^ a b c "Death of Sir Robert Chambre Hill CB". Shrewsbury Chronicle. 10 March 1850. Retrieved 15 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ The Shropshire Gazetteer: With an Appendix Including a Survey of the County, and Valuable Miscellaneous Information. T. Gregory. 1824. p. 448.
  6. ^ a b Dalton 1904, p. 51.
  7. ^ Battle of Waterloo (1815). The battle of Waterloo, containing the series of accounts published by authority, British and foreign [&c.]. By a Near Observer. p. 255.
  8. ^ "Ritter-Orden - Militärischer Maria-Theresien-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Kaiserthumes Österreich, 1857, p. 45, retrieved 13 September 2020
  9. ^ "From the London Gazette". Kentish Gazette. 2 June 1812. Retrieved 17 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Income Tax". Staffordshire Advertiser. 16 July 1842. Retrieved 15 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Bibliography


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