Growing up in a lighthouse must be a remarkable experience that would, most likely, instil a love of the sea. Finding an ancestor who lived such a life in the 1760s is even more extraordinary.
Janice Oliver has made such a discovery on her Hiller line, which can be traced back to Broadstairs and Ramsgate. “About 20 years ago, I registered my surname interests with the Kent Family History Society,” Janice explains. “In December 2000, I was surprised to receive a letter from the society’s honourable secretary. He had acquired a copy of an old annotated picture signed by a Captain Thomas Hiller.
“I had already traced the line back to my 5x great grandparents John and Esther Hiller, who lived at North Foreland Lighthouse, near Broadstairs, in the mid-18th century. My direct ancestor was their son Joshua, and he had an older brother called Thomas. Could this be the artist?”
The artwork featured a pastoral home, nautical problems, ships and a lighthouse. On the reverse side were notes by Thomas that explained the images and named his childhood home: North Foreland Lighthouse.
“The life of my 4x great grand uncle was revealed by the artwork and annotations. I was in awe of the fact that Thomas was articulate, educated and an accomplished artist.
“He wrote that he was born on 6 April 1766 at the lighthouse, and that his future wife, Sarah Huggett, was born at Stone Farm in 1770. This was the pastoral home at the centre of the picture.”
The nautical problems were set for Thomas when he attended the Royal Hospital School in Greenwich, London, which prepared boys for a career at sea.
Thomas explains that he began his artwork in Christmas 1781. He drew Stone Farm and sketched out the navigational problems.
Thomas excelled academically despite being unhappy at school. He left Greenwich aged 14 to be apprenticed to the Reigna des Anges. This was a Portuguese vessel heading for the Caribbean.
“Thomas had many brushes with death during his long career at sea. The first was on his maiden voyage, when one of the Portuguese crewmen threw a handspike at him. Fortunately, it missed and ‘stove the craft’.”
Another narrow escape occurred in Jamaica in 1783, when Thomas was serving on a boat ironically called Friendship. While he was heading for shore in a longboat the boatswain threw him overboard and shouted, “Swim or drown!”
Despite such perilous times, Thomas continued to serve at sea as cook, boatswain and first mate before becoming a captain in 1792. He owned ships and served as a commander on vessels in His Majesty’s Hired Armed Service.
“Thomas travelled to New York, Barbados, Argentina and the Continent during the Napoleonic Wars. He survived storms, shipwrecks, an attack from a French warship, and fell overboard several times.”
Thomas married his childhood sweetheart Sarah in 1789, and they had seven children. He must have finished the artwork after his retirement, because the last ship illustrated is the Rapid steam packet, which he captained between London and Rotterdam in 1823. He lived to the age of 83, and died in 1849.
“I feel as though I have got to know Thomas through the artwork. He was honest, brave and hardworking, with a deep sense of love for his family. Other members of the Hiller family became lifeboatmen, and I’m
very proud of them as well."