Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Page Book: The Hilliers & Related Families, Burin Peninsula: Register Report of CHARLES HILLIER

Prev Page

Prev Item

Contents

Index

Go to Page

Home Page

Next Item

Next Page

Page 102 of 245

Descendants of CHARLES HILLIER

Generation No. 1

1. CHARLES³ HILLIER (HILLIER FAMILIES OF BURIN² PENINSULA, THE HILLIERS OF¹ NEWFOUNDLAND) was born 1793 in England, and died October 17, 1850 in High Beach. He married MARY PITMAN. She was born 1806, and died 1902.

Notes for CHARLES HILLIER:
Charles Hillier is presumed to have been born in England. He is known to have lived in Lamaline and on the Meadow for some time in the early to perhaps mid 1800's and eventually settled in High Beach. Charles is thought by many genealogy researchers as a younger brother of John Hillier (1783), but positive documentation is missing. Two theories regarding this blood relationship are advanced:

      A. Several children in the families of the two Hilliers were given identical names at birth - a feature characteristic of family tradition. The following given names appear in both families: Ann; Edward; James; John; Charles; and Emmanuel.
The theory of identical given names as evidence of possible blood relationship in same generation has been advanced by Mrs. Jacob Mullins (Margaret Hillier Mullins - MM).

      B. There is no documented marriage between members of the two families - hence a high degree of probability of sibling relationship between John and Charles.

Efforts are currently underway to identify Charles' parents and place of origin. Possible locations in England include Kilmersden, Limington, (MM) and Bath in Somerset County; Leominster in Hereford County (KH).

Note re: Bath: "From Vol. II, Bath Register: 'Christened 21 July 1793 - Charles Hillier, son of James and Margaret" (Posted on Hillier rootsweb list in 1998 by Barbara - from Pat Dorgan <dale@itl.net>).

Note: An article in the April 29, 1846 Patriot mentions a petition brought to the General Assembly on behalf of Charles Hillier protesting the seizure of flour brought from a Newfoundland merchant. The seizure took place in October, 1842. Charles is referred to as a British subject, having a wife and nine children, occupation fisherman. -- Charles later received compensation for the flour wrongly taken.
Source: KH, from a copy of Patriot. Original in the Archives, St. John's).

PETITIONS
PETITION OF CHARLES HILLIER, OF LAMALINE, IN THE DISTRICT OF
                  BURIN, FISHERMAN

HUMBLY SHEWETH-

That Petitioner is a British subject, having a wife and nine children living at Lamaline, in the District of Burin, and has been compelled thus to obtrude himself upon the notice of the House, under the following circumstances: That being a dealer of the house of Philip Nicolle, Jun'r. Esq., of the Island of Jersey. Merchant, carrying on business at Lawn near to Cape Chapeau Rouge in this Island, Petitioner on the 26th day of October 1842, purchased Six Barrels of Flour from Mr. Philip Clement, the Agent of the said Philip Nicolle at Lawn, and took them in an open boat of Petitioner's, estimated to carry ten quintals of green fish -equal to the burthen of one and a half ton or thereabouts, to Lamaline, to which place he returned the following evening, being a distance of about nine miles. That on the morning of the 28th October he landed them at the Beach, and having placed a sail over them as a protection from the rain, he went for assistance to remove them to his house to avoid rolling them through mud.
That upon his return alone, and observing Mr. James Winter, Sub Collector of Her Majesty's Colonial Customs, lately stationed at Lamaline, looking at the Barrels, Petitioner saluted him; he, however, did not reply to Petitioner, who proceeded down to where his boat lay, in order to moor and secure her, which having done, Petitioner returned to his flour, where he was surprised to find Mr. Winter still standing;
Petitioner again addressed him and jocularly asked if he thought he had got a prize there? Mr. Winter replied he was sure that he had, and would detain it until sufficient proof was given that the duties had been paid. Petitioner answered that he could not be expected to account for the duties being paid, having brought it from his Merchant. It fortunately happened that Mr. Clement was at the time at Lamaline, and being referred to, verbally certified that the same was part of a consignment received by the Branch house of Philip Nicolle at Lawn, from their principal establishment centered at Jersey Harbor in Fortune Bay, where, and by whom, the said flour had been originally imported and entered according to law at the Customs House in Harbour Britain, Little Bay, before Mr. Gaden, Sub-Collector of Her Majesty's Customs.
That Mr. Winter, however, would not be satisfied with Mr. Clement's declaration on the subject, and not only refused to give up Petitioner's flour but delivered the same in charge oaf a Constable, as though it had been liable to seizure for breach of any Colonial Law; Whereas there was not any Colonial Law
subjecting flour or any other articles to duty, or rendering such otherwise liable to seizure at the time in existence, the Revenue Act (last passed) having expired, and the functions of the Colonial Legislature being temporarily suspended. Or as though the said flour had been subject to Imperial Duty, or otherwise liable to seizure under or by virtue of any provision of an Imperial Act, whereas the Imperial Act 3 & 4, William the Fourth, cap.59, termed the British Possessions Act, expressly provides for the admission duty free of the article of flour for the use of the fisheries; and yet it is under color or pretence of an imagined violation of the 20th section of that Act that the present seizure is attempted to be justified. Besides all this, there was not at the time, nor ever had been, any restriction to Boats carrying the like or other description of goods from one harbor to another as on the present occasion, or even from Saint John's the capital, Coastwise, North or South of the Island, by subjecting them to entry at, or clearance from, any Custom House; the contrary usuage and practice having invariably obtained from the earliest settlement of the colony down to the period of the unauthorised seizure of Petitioner's flour.
That Petitioner feeling greatly aggrieved by this unexpected deprivation of his flour, which he had relied upon as a means of subsistence for himself and family during the then approaching winter , was desirous of doing every thing in his power to meet with what appeared to be mere caprice on the part of Mr. Winter, and therefore subsequently procured from Mr. Clement at Lawn (to which place he repaired for the purpose) a written certificate corroborative of his verbal one, but to which he paid no attention, but on the contrary followed up what could not but appear at first to be an act of great cruelty towards Petitioner, by sending the said flour to Saint John's, as if for the purpose of dispiriting Petitioner from pursuing the means necessary to effect its restoration.
That their Lordships (having previously communicated with and received the report of the Collector of Her Majesty's Customs at this Port on the Petitioner's case) have recently informed Petitioner by letter, under date of the 30th August last, that they cannot comply with his request.

That Petitioner is in consequence, as his only resource, driven to lay his case before the House, and does so under the confidence that as by the laws of his country justice is guaranteed to every man, the House will, seeing that he has been wrongfully deprived of his property, and that no other legal means of redress is or was open to him, adopt such means as will tend to the restoration of his flour, or the proceeds thereof, as well as to his receiving reparation for the deprivation thereof, and for the expense and loss consequent thereupon, as to the House in the exercise of its wisdom may seem meet and just.

TO THE HONORABLE THE COLLECTOR OF HER MAJESTY'S CUSTOMS,
                        SAINT JOHN'S.

The Petition of Charles Hillier, of Lamaline.

HUMBLY SHEWETH-----

That your Petitioner on the 20th October last, purchased 6 Barrels of Flour ( as per Certificate herewith)
From Philip Clement, on account of Philip Nicolle, Jr., of Jersey, Merchant, carrying on business at Lawn. That on the evening of the day following brought it in his Boat from said place, and on the morning of the 28th landed it on the Beach of Lamaline, and placed a sail over it as a protection from the rain, and went to obtain assistance to carry the same away, not liking to roll it in the mud; and upon his return alone saw Mr. Winter life up the Sail and look at the same. Upon coming up to him I saluted him as to the bad state of the weather, but he made no reply; after mooring my Boat and remaining for some time, seeing him still looking at the Flour, I said do you think you have got a prize there? He said he was sure he had, and would detain the same until sufficient proof was given that the duties had been paid on it. I said that I could not account that duties had been paid, as I bought it from my Merchant Mr. Clement. He (Mr. Winter) then went and brought Mr. Clement who said he could testify as to the truth of it; but however he could not satisfy him, and put a Constable in charge of same. That your petitioner has since obtained a Certificate from Mr. Clement, and a letter from Mr. Chapman which he begs most respectfully to lay before you, and which he ha shewn to Mr. Winter, and further states that he received a Certificate from Mr. Gaden at Fortune Bay,as to the duties being paid on the said Flour, which he presented to Mr. Butler, the Magistrate,
who showed it to Mr. Winter, but through some negligence it has been mislaid'; but upon the petitioner's return he will obtain the Affidavit of Mr. Chapman, and Certificate of Mr. Gaden, that the duties had been paid, and that the same Flour was legally entered.
That in further aggravation of his conduct towards Petitioner, he is compelled to state to the House that he was cited to appear at the Court House in Burin to answer to a charge preferred by Mr. Winter of Petitioner's having obstructed him in the execution of his office on the occasion of the seizure of the said flour; that Petitioner accordingly attended at Burin, in October 1843, when a Bill of Indictment WA laid before the Grand Jury of the Southern Circuit Court [it being the first sittings of the said Court held at Burin after the seizure in question] on which occasion the Grand Jury ignored the said Bill, from its not being possible to produce any evidence to warrant so unfounded a charge against Petitioner, whose deportment was proven to be forbearing and exemplary in the extreme, under circumstances, which he humbly conceives were of a nature highly calculated to excite his feelings.
That in order further to exemplify the hardship of his case, Petitioner respectfully informs the House that the gentleman who was employed to assist in the Prosecution, satisfied of the utter groundlessness and futility of the charge, generously interested himself in an endeavour to effect the restoration of his flour, as well as to procure to Petitioner some compensation for the expense and sufferings he had been subjected to, and for that purpose forwarded on his behalf a petition to the Honourable the Collector of Her Majesty's Customs at Saint John's, the object of which totally failed. The Collector in a letter addressed by him to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, embodying by the desire of His Excellency Sir John Harvey, his report upon the Petitioner's case, states, among other things, that such petition was without the Petitioner's signature, but admitted that he nevertheless had communicated with Sub Collector Winter in respect thereto, and its accompanying certificates, and that Mr. Winter's reply was perfectly satisfactory. Petitioner would here observe that whatever may have been the course taken by Mr. Winter to satisfy the Collector so as to induce the continued detention of his flour, he was well acquainted with the hand writing

of Sub Collector Gaden, and ought not to have quibbled or taken exception to a trifling clerical error alleged to exist in the copy of that gentleman's certificate or letter to Mr. Chapman, Mr. Nicolle's Agent at Jersey Harbor, on the subject, he having had the original letter placed in his hands at Burin. It is worthy of remark also that the said copy was certified by the resident Magistrate at Lamaline, Henry Butler, Esquire, to whom reference could easily have been made, had a doubt of its general accuracy really existed on the mind of Mr. Winter; in the face of which, however, and of the certificate of Mr. Clement, which he dared not have questioned, he succeeded in persuading the Collector of the propriety of his rejecting both of these documents, as if it had been possible for the Petitioner to have surreptitiously procured either of them, copies of which said certificates are herewith respectfully annexed.
That Petitioner having been so advised, at length brought his case under the notice of His Excellency the Governor, who called for the report of the Honourable the Collector on the subject, and who declined to farther interfere therein in consequence of its having appeared to His Excellency from the said report that the Honourable the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Customs had recognised the act of the said seizure, and by the directions of their Honors therein, had excluded the further intervention or action of the Local Authorities in Petitioner's behalf.
That your petitioner's family, consisting of his Wife and nine young children, were put to great inconvenience and suffering, from being deprived of the use of the said Flour during the past winter; and he has been compelled at great expense to appear at the Court House at Burin, to answer the charge of Mr. Winter, for obstructing him in the execution of his duty, from which charge he has been fully acquitted by the Grand Jury.

He therefore humbly prays that you will be pleased to order a restitution of the same or an equivalent, together with something as a recompense for the trouble and expense he has been put to in the matter, and as in duty bound will ever pray.

                  (Signed)                  CHARLES HILLIER
October 2nd 1843

________________________________________________________________________________

Lamaline, September 20, 1843.

This is to certify that on the 26th day of October 1842, I delivered Mr. Charles Hillier Six Barrels American Flour that came from Jersey Harbour, on board the Schooner Bride, consigned to me on account of Philip Nicolle, Jr. Merchant.
                                    For Philip Nicolle, Junior,

                        (Signed)            PHILIP CLEMENT

The accuracy of the copy of which the above is a literal transcript, and which was forwarded to the Lords of the Treasury, was sworn to by Mr. Clement before John Renouf, Esquire, one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace residing at LaPoile, and the fact of Mr. Renouf's being in the Commission of the Peace for the Southern District is duly certified to by the Honorable the Colonial Secretary.

The original Certificate is believed to have been retained by the Collector to whom it was sent with Hillier's first Petition referred to in his Petition to the House of Assembly.

(Copy.)                                    Custom House, Little Bay
                                    2nd Nov. 1842.

Sir,--In reply to your Note of yesterday, I beg leave to inform you that on reference to my papers I found that the Schooner Bride cleared from this Port of Lawn, and reported Twenty Five Barrels Flour, which article was stated in the said Clearance.

                              I am, truly yours,

                                    THOMAS G GADEN
                                          Sub-Collector

To Mr. Chapman, Certified Copy.
      [Signed]
HENRY BUTLER, J.P.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                  NEWFOUNDLAND

Central District
Saint John's to wit.

Personally appeared before me Patrick Doyle, one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the district aforesaid, Thomas E. Gaden, Sub Collector of Her Majesty's Customs stationed at Little Bay, in Fortune Bay, in the said Island, and who being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists of almighty God to depose the truth, deposeth and saith that the above is a true and correct copy of the original document of which it purports to be a copy, and that the contents thereof are just and true.

                              Signed, THOMAS E. GADEN

Taken and sworn the - day of September, 1844, before me.

                              Signed, PATRICK DOYLE, J. P.

STATEMENT of CHARLES HILLIER'S loss in the seizure and detention of Six Barrels of Flour by Mr. James Winter, Sub-Collector at Lamaline.

To amount paid P. Nicolle, Jr. for 6 Barrels Flour at 35s. per barrel             10 10 0
To my personal expenses in attending upon the Circuit Court
At Burin during 10 days. -- -- --

To Bill of Law Adviser for advice and preparing memorials to
His Excellency Sir John Harvey, and to the Lords of the
Treasury with accompanying Documents and Notarial
Seal and Certificate annexed. 3 3 0
To Law Adviser for preparing second memorial to the Colonial
Legislature.                                    1 1 0 --- 4 4 0
To this sum in compensation to myself and family for being de-
prived of the use of the Flour. ------------

                                    TREASURY CHAMBERS
                                    30th August, 1846

Sir, -- The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have had under their consideration your application praying Relief in regard to 6 Barrels of Flour which had been seized from you by Mr. Winter, the Sub Collector at Lamaline in the year 1843., and their Lordships have directed me to acquaint you that they cannot comply with your request.

                        I am, Sir,

                        Your obedient Servant

                                    C. TREVELYAN

Mr. HILLIER, Landing Island, Newfound land

______________________________________________________________________________

More About CHARLES HILLIER:
Burial: October 20, 1850, St. Mary's. Cem., Lam (SM Records - VHH)
Note: Records of St.M. Cem. show Charles to be the first person buried in SM Cemetery

Children of CHARLES HILLIER and MARY PITMAN are:

CHARLES⁴ HILLIER, d. 1917, Vancouver, B.C..

Notes for CHARLES HILLIER:
Charles moved to Vancouver B.C., never married, returned to High Beach in 1907 but was disappointed that the village had changed so much. "Where are all the trees?" he is reported to have asked. (From my mother-in-law's memories). He had planned to retire there abut returned to Vancouver where he died in 1917. He did help at least one of his newphews to settle in Vancouver. (VHH Jan 10, 2000)

ii.

WILLIAM HILLIER, b. November 13, 1825; d. 1901, High Beach, NF.

More About WILLIAM HILLIER:
Burial: August 25, 1901, St. Mary's Cem., Lamaline (SM records - VHH)

2.	iii.	EDWARD HILLIER, b. November 02, 1828, Lamaline, NF; d. 1870, Fortune.
3.	iv.	ANN HILLIER, b. 1830, Lamaline, NF; d. February 09, 1924, Halifax, N.S..
4.	v.	JOHN HILLIER, b. September 1831, Lamaline; d. June 1923, High Beach, NF.
5.	vi.	MARY HILLIER, b. June 12, 1834, Lamaline, NF; d. January 27, 1923, Lamaline, NF.
6.	vii.	HARRIET HILLIER, b. November 01, 1836, Lamaline, NF; d. November 03, 1928, High Beach, NF.
7.	viii.	JAMES HILLIER, b. 1838; d. September 27, 1906.
8.	ix.	ISAAC HILLIER, b. April 24, 1843, Lamaline, NF; d. 1935, Halifax, N.S..
9.	x.	CLARISSA HILLIER, b. Abt. 1847, Lamaline.
10.	xi.	EMMANUEL HILLIER, b. 1848, Lamaline, NF; d. April 21, 1919, High Beach, NF.
11.	xii.	ROBERT HILLIER, b. December 12, 1850; d. July 05, 1928, Lamaline, NF.

Page 102 of 245

Prev Page

Prev Item

Contents

Index

Go to Page

Home Page

Next Item

Next Page