Major Hull (born 1733; died 1813)

Now a little information on an ancestor I had no knowledge of a half decade ago, a British redcoat, who seems to have begun a tradition of army service in his family.

From the death certificate of Maria Asia Hull Gosset (nee Woodriff) I knew that her mother was named Maria Hull. This was confirmed when I had contact with a Woodriff cousin who had obtained the naval record of John Robert Woodriff (Maria Hull's husband). The record also included a letter dated 1810 from a "Duke of York" to a "Major Hull" concerning the death overseas of the latter's son, a Lieutenant Colonel Hull.

Learning of this made me revisit the family tree of Le Vavasseur dit Durell that had appeared in J. B. Payne's Armorial of Jersey. That item had Thomas Durell (b. 1759) marrying in 1819 "Ann, dau. of Major Hull". IGI records their marriage as taking place 12 August 1819, at St Giles, Camberwell, in Surrey. Thomas had a sister Rachel Durell. She was the grandmother of James William Gosset. James's wife Maria Asia Hull Woodriff was the daughter of John Robert Woodriff and Maria Hull, and now a letter to a Major Hull had turned up in the papers of Maria Hull's husband.

My wonderful Woodriff relative had investigated this and through a researcher had obtained British Army listings which showed that a Lieutenant Colonel Edward Hull of the 43rd Regiment of Foot had fallen at the Battle of Coa in Portugal, 24 July 1810. A book about the 43rd Regiment contained further information, namely brief genealogies of families that had significant ties to the Regiment. Included here were the Hulls - including Edward Hull and his father Trevor Hull. According to the army listings Trevor Hull had been a Captain in the 43rd Regiment, and a Major in the 36th Regiment. There was some confusion in the Army listings as Trevor Hull's career seemed to have spanned over fifty years and he seemed to have repeated some promotions a decade or so apart in time.

I then looked at Burke's Family Index (the index to Burke's Peerage and Landed Gentry) as you never know what might turn up, and sure enough there was an entry in 1952 for Hulls of Carnbane, which detailed an Irish family, and included two Trevor Hulls, an uncle and nephew, who had served in British regiments. This explained the apparent repetition in the careers of Trevor Hull; the listings had conflated the two men, making it seem like one person had had a long career with repeated promotions (i.e. became a captain twice some years apart), where instead two men had had careers in different generations. The elder Trevor Hull had become a Major and the nephew had gone on to become a Major General.

Trevor Hull (the major) was born in Ireland in 1733, the son of Edward Hull (1694-1748) and Ann Parker (d. 1752). Edward Hull was in the service of the Lords Hillsborough (later Marquesses of Downshire), who were surnamed Hill and that had inherited their estates from the Trevor family. The head of the family at the time of Trevor Hull's birth was Trevor Hill. This is undoubtedly from whence the future Major Hull received his first name. This was not an isolated incident. In a later generation his lordship was Arthur Hill, and there was an Arthur Hill Hull present in the Hull family.

Regimental records and military announcements give something of an overview of his progression through the ranks. Regimental histories give some idea of where he served, as does the obituary which appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine, Volume LXIII, covering January to June 1813, page 92. This is available via Google Book Search. I quote the obituary at length below as it gives some idea of his career and character:

"Jan. 7. At Southampton, aged 79, Trevor Hull, esq, one of his Majesty's Gentlemen Ushers of the Privy Chamber. He entered into the army in 1756 as Ensign of the 43rd regiment, and served under the Earl of Loudon, Lord Amherst, the immortal Wolfe, General Murray, &c. in the several campaigns, battles, and sieges, which annexed Acadia, Louisburgh, and Canada, to the British Empire. He afterwards served under Generals Walsh and Monckton at the taking of Martinique and the other French India islands, and with the Earl of Albemarle at the Havannah. He returned to Europe with his regiment in 1773, and retired from the Army, after the American War, with the rank of Major, being soon afterwards appointed Gentleman Usherof his Majesty's Privy Chamber, in which station he continued till his death. It may be truly said of this most worthy and amiable gentleman, that he was not only respected, but highly valued by his superiors, and esteemed and loved by his acquaintance and friends; and that he was a loyal subject, a faithful friend, an honest man, and a pious Christian".

He served in the 43rd Regiment of Foot for some 12 years then was exchanged to the 36th regiment in 1768. In 1764 the 36th regiment had been posted to Jamaica in the West Indies. Presumably Trevor Hull joined his new colleagues there until the regiment was recalled in 1773. The 36th was then sent to Ireland, the country of Hull's birthplace.

Interestingly, pieces of information from different sources would seem to corroborate this. To work backwards, the House of Commons included a report on Irish tontines, a form of government bonds issued in three different years. For 1773 subscription were listed Edward Hull and Ann Hull, being the "only son" and "only daughter" of Trevor Hull and Ann Gibbons, with their address being Middlesex. Edward Hull was 2 years old (giving a birthdate of 1771 or so) and Ann Hull was 3 years old (i.e. birthdate of about 1770).

I was intrigued by the mention of Ann Gibbons. I had not seen this name before. If she was the mother of Edward and Ann, was she also the mother of Maria Hull, wife of John Robert Woodriff? Maria was not listed in the tontines subscription so presumably was born after 1773. Was she much older than her husband who was born 1790? The Irish tontines were issued in 1775 and 1777 as well, but there is no Maria Hull among the subscribers. This might mean she was born after 1777, or perhaps that her father missed out on the later issues.

A later listing of subscribers in the 1800s (by which time Maria Hull would have been born) still described Ann (by now Ann Durell) as the "only daughter" of her parents. However, it also described her father as "Captain Trevor Hull" when he had retired as a major some years previously. Perhaps the details of her marriage were added to the listing, but the original details were kept (i.e. her father's rank at the time the bond was taken out in 1773 and the description of her as "only daughter")? So, the question is was Ann Gibbons the mother of Maria Hull or not.
Another question is why the mother's name was given as Ann Gibbons? Shouldn't she have been Ann Hull instead? Certainly the other subscribers in the 1773 listing seemed to be the children of a "Mr and Mrs" (i.e. the mother had the same surname as the father).

I then found a webpage listing Jamaican baptisms for the late 1700s and early 1800s. Remember, if Trevor Hull physically joined the 36th Regiment in 1768 he would have been stationed in Jamaica from 1768 to 1773. There is a baptism on the page giving the following information:

"Ann HALL b. 29 Oct 1770 bap. 18 Feb 1771 fa. Trevor HALL mo. Ann GIBBONS free mulatto".

Could Ann Hall born 1770 the daughter of Trevor Hall and Ann Gibbons be the same person as Ann Hull born about 1770 the daughter of Trevor Hull and Ann Gibbons, with the presumption that if Trevor Hull was with his regiment he would have been in Jamaica at this time? Or is it just a coincidence?

Admittedly the surname listed is Hall not Hull but I have seen that transcription error previously. There are other Halls in the register, so there was a family of that name in Jamaica. However, perhaps this helps explain the transcription error, if Hull appeared among several people surnamed Hall. I do not know how one would go about verifying this.

Another problem - IF these are Hulls and not Halls - is that there is no Edward Hull/Hall in the register, which one might expect if he was born in Jamaica in 1771, given that the 36th regiment was not in England until 1773. Whether the baptism is absent because of missing records or whether this just confirms that the baptism register entry for Ann Hall does not relate to Trevor Hull's family at all...??? Or is it just too coincidental not to have been his family. Arrrgh!

Anyway, back to firmer detail. Scots magazine, dated November 1780 (via Google Book Search) which carried announcements from the War-office reported on 25 November a list of Majors in the Army including

"Trevor Hull, of 36th foot".

This was his last promotion, before he left the army sometime in the next decade. He was appointed a Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber in September 1789 (recorded as "Hull, T." in The Public Rooms - Gentlemen Ushers of the Privy Chamber 1660-1837).

He died 7 January 1813. Some sources give 14 January 1813, but the 7 January is from the obituary that appeared in "Gentleman's Magazine".

I mentioned he seems to have begun a tradition of service in the army for the Hull family. The career of his nephew Major General Trevor Hull (1760-1816) has been mentioned already, with the confusion that arises between the two men with the same name. There were other members of the family who served.

Major Hull's brother Edward Hull (another child of Edward Hull and Ann Parker) also served in the 43rd Regiment of Foot but died 2 May 1775 from wounds sustained at the Battle of Lexington which took place on 19 April. This was at the outset of the Revolutionary War of Independence, and Lieutenant Edward Hull, 43rd Foot, is said to have been the first British officer to have died in that campaign.

The major had a brother Anthony Hull (1722-1795) who married Alice Watson. Their son James Watson Hull (1758-1831) also served in 43rd Foot, becoming a Captain.

Another Edward Hull (the Major's son) served in the 43rd, becoming a Lieutenant Colonel and leading the regiment at the Battle of Coa (also known as Corunna), 24 July 1810. A small ivory set portrait of Lt. Col. Edward Hull, which had been brought out to New Zealand by his niece Maria's family, was sold at auction in 2008.