Kapunda Biographies: John Hill

(Orignally posted on 'The History of Kapunda' Tuesday, August 7, 2012.)

Kapunda, A town of mystery, a town of history, and a town with a past like no other. Today I am starting a new edition to the blog, highlighting some of the people who lived, worked, played, loved and built the town. Some of the ladies and gentlemen I will profile over coming months have long left. Others are living in the town today, you may have passed them in the street and not known what achievements they had accomplished, right here in Kapunda. With this blog, I aim to change that!

To get started, I am going to profile a gentleman who passed away long ago. A man who crossed the sea to play an important role in South Australian history. A man who would eventually call Kapunda home, and be buried in the Clare Road Cemetery.

Mr John Hill served as boatswain (The Foreman of the “unlicensed” crew) in His Majesty, King William's ship, The Buffalo. [1]

John Hill was born on the 3rd of June 1808 in Cheshurst, Hertfordshire, England. Mr Hill was a skilled thatcher before serving his King in the English Navy.

John Hill's most notable mark in South Australian history, other than coming to our fine shores aboard the Buffalo, was under the soon to be Governor of South Australia, Captain John Hindmarsh.

As the proclamation, declaring South Australia a British colony was read aloud to the gathered sailors and dignitaries, John Hill raised the British Flag, thus marking his place in South Australian history for all time. He was aged 29 at the time.

Mr Hill was soon engaged in the colony to undertake his regular occupation, thatching rooves for the newly colonised State. The only skilled roof thatcher available, he was very busy and was summoned to thatch the roof of the Governor's house.




Mr Hill died at the age of 77, on the 2nd of April 1885, and was interred in The Clare Road Cemetery.


Mr Hill's wife and family were very proud of the fact that their husband and father hoisted the flag on proclamation day and marked the significance upon his tombstone.

His grave also features a very distinct and different marking. It features as the centrepiece the “British Standard” with Gum tree carved into Headstone.

Mr Hills obituary appears in the South Australian Register on page 2, April 11th 1885 and reads,

Deaths 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, who is somewhat older than himself.

Researched and Written by Allen Tiller
for Kapunda Community Link



[1] The “Buffalo” was originally named The Hindostand in 1813 when it was built it was sold in that same year to the United Kingdom Navy and renamed “The Buffalo” where it began to ship mast timbers across the globe. It eventually was used to ship English female prisoners to Sydney (187) then travelled to South Africa. The ship was recommissioned in 1835 where it was fitted to house emigrants for transport to Australian Colonies.

“A Ghost Named Tom” - Edmund Wright House

“A Ghost Named Tom”

Edmund Wright House

 

 Edmund Wright House - SLSA B 43000

  Built between 1875 and 1878, the building now known as The Edmund Wright Building was designed by architects Edmund Wright and Lloyd Taylor for the Bank of South Australia, which was an independent branch of the South Australia Company, formed in 1835, in London.
The building opened on the 2nd of June 1878 and cost 63,000 pounds to construct.

  For most of its life, the building has been used as a bank, changing hands from the Bank of South Australia, to the Union Bank in 1893. Later becoming the ANZ Bank from 1951 until 1971 after which it was sold to Mainline Investments.
Mainline Investments proposed a 19-story office block to be built on the site in 1971. A public campaign saved the ornate building from demolition. The Minister for Public Works purchased the property for $750,000 and renamed it Edmund Wright House. It has since been used by The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and as a migrant resource center. Its lower bank vaults are used on occasion for music recitals and meetings.

  The design of the building is in the style “Corinthian” and features carved friezes, carved spandrels, carved keystones, and a carved tympanum featuring the bank's shield.

  The former vaults of the bank in the basement, and the upper levels of this building, are thought to be haunted by a man named “Tom” who is said to have been stabbed to death in the building, although no record of such an incident can be verified.

  A few people who experienced the haunting in this building came forward during my Adelaide City Library residency for the Haunted Buildings in Adelaide project. Some who worked inside the building described how the lift would often operate by itself. One witness described looking up on one occasion the lift opened expecting someone to leave the lift, but the lift would be empty…
  Lights also had a habit of being turned on or off within the building when no one was visibly near the light switches, but perhaps the eeriest of experiences for a witness was the calling of her name (and of other staff members) by a disembodied voice in the building, one that none of the staff recognised, or could locate the source from which it emanated!

 One witness, Debbie, claimed that when the building was a bank, and she worked there, on two occasions her voice was called. Debbie also claimed that staff would hear an unseen man walking down a passage. 
 Debbie has identified the spirit as that of a man named 'Morris,' which differs from the stories I recorded from other witnesses to paranormal activity in this building. Is there a second spirit haunting this former bank? Perhaps, but without proper investigation, we will never know.

© Allen Tiller 2019

John Hill

John Hill 

Mr Hill served as boatswain (The Foreman of the “unlicensed” crew) in His Majesty, King William's Ship, The Buffalo. [1]

John Hill was born on the 3rd of June 1808 in Cheshurst, Hertfordshire England. Mr Hill was a skilled thatcher before serving for his King in the English Navy.

John Hill's most notable mark in South Australian history, other than coming to our fine shores aboard the Buffalo, under the soon to be Governor of South Australia, Captain John Hindmarsh, was to unfurl the flag at proclamation day ceremonies at Glenelg.

As the proclamation, declaring South Australia a British colony was read aloud to the gathered sailors and dignitaries, John Hill raised the British Flag, thus marking his place in South Australian history for all time. He was aged 29 at the time.

Mr Hill was soon engaged to thatch roofs for the newly colonised State, the only skilled Roof thatcher available he was very busy and was summoned to thatch the roof of the Governor's house.

Mr Hill lived much of his middle years in Wilpena before settling in Kapunda with his family, where he died at the age of 77, after fighting an illness for four months. Mr Hill died on the 2nd of April 1885 and was interred in The Clare Road Cemetery. 

Mr Hill's Wife and Family were very proud of the fact that their Husband and Father hoisted the flag on proclamation day and marked the significance upon his tombstone.

His grave also features a very distinct and different marking. It features as the centrepiece the “British Standard” with Gum tree carved into Headstone.

Mr Hills obituary appears in the South Australian Register on page 2, April 11th 1885 and reads:

Deaths 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, who is somewhat older than himself 

[1] The “Buffalo” was originally named “The Hindostand” in 1813 when it was built it was sold in that same year to the United Kingdom Navy and renamed “The Buffalo” where it began to ship mast timbers across the globe. It eventually was used to ship English female prisoners to Sydney (187) then travelled to South Africa. The ship was recommissioned in 1835 where it was fitted to house emigrants for transport to Australian Colonies.

Please note, this post was originally made on a short-lived blog I wrote about Kapunda, due to the amount of time spent researching the paranormal, the Kapunda blog suffered a severe lack of posts - rather than lose the blog into the depths of Internet obscurity, I am reposting some of the research back onto this blog as much of it contains, History, Mystery and the Paranormal.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au