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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.<\/p>
Janice Oliver has made such a discovery on her Hiller line, which can be traced back to Broadstairs and Ramsgate. \u201cAbout 20 years ago, I registered my surname<\/a> interests with the Kent Family History Society,\u201d Janice explains. \u201cIn December 2000, I was surprised to receive a letter from the society\u2019s honourable secretary. He had acquired a copy of an old annotated picture signed by a Captain Thomas Hiller.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cI 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<\/a>. My direct ancestor was their son Joshua, and he had an older brother called Thomas. Could this be the artist?\u201d\u00a0<\/p> 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.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cThe 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.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cHe 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p> 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.\u00a0<\/p> Thomas explains that he began his artwork in Christmas 1781. He drew Stone Farm and sketched out the navigational problems.<\/p> Thomas excelled academically despite being unhappy at school. He left Greenwich aged 14 to be apprenticed to the Reigna des Anges<\/em>. This was a Portuguese vessel heading for the Caribbean<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cThomas 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 \u2018stove the craft\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p> Another narrow escape occurred in Jamaica in 1783, when Thomas was serving on a boat ironically called Friendship<\/em>. While he was heading for shore in a longboat the boatswain threw him overboard and shouted, \u201cSwim or drown!\u201d<\/p> 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\u2019s Hired Armed Service.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cThomas travelled to New York, Barbados, Argentina and the Continent during the Napoleonic Wars<\/a>. He survived storms, shipwrecks<\/a>, an attack from a French warship, and fell overboard several times.\u201d<\/p> 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 <\/em>steam packet, which he captained between London and Rotterdam in 1823. He lived to the age of 83, and died in 1849.<\/p>