Laurence Carr Hill, DSO, MC

From Bulletin of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (Great Britain) Published January 1949 Page 14

The President Elect

Colonel L. C. Hill was educated at St. Lawrence College and received his technical training at the Royal School of Mines, London. He graduated as B.Sc. (London) and A.R.S.M. (Mining) in 1912, being awarded the Brough Medal, and took up a post in Spain with the Rio Tinto Co., Ltd. The whole of his subsequent professional career has been with the same Company. By 1928 he had become Technical Deputy Manager, a post which he held until he joined the army in 1940. Since the end of the war. Col. Hill has been Technical Adviser to the Rio Tinto Company, with headquarters in London, and has made several visits to oversets mining fields in that capacity.

The President-Elect has a distinguished record of military service in the two World Wars. In 1914 he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers, and first served in 174 Tunnelling Company, R.E. In 1916 he became Assistant Controller of Mines, Third Army, and in the following year took over the command of 177 Company, with the rank of Major. During World War I he was awarded the D.S.O. and M.C. In 1940 he was recommissioned and until 1942 commanded the First Tunnelling Engineers, R.E., with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After service with that group in England and Malta, he was appointed Deputy Chief Engineer, Malta, in 1942, and Chief Engineer, Malta, in 1943, with the rank of colonel.

Colonel Hill relinquished his commission under the age limit in November 1944, and immediately joined the Admiralty Runner Service, where he served until the end of the war as a deck-hand on fleet tenders and other small craft.

Himself the son of a mining engineer — the late Alexander Hill, M.I.M.M. of Messrs. Alexander Hill and Stewart — his own son is at present a student at the Royal School of Mines.

From findmypast 19010331 census Alexander Hill 45 Mary M R 43 Lawrence C 10 Mary K C 8 Mark C 6 Nina M C 5 Cuthbert A 3 at Merrylee Green Lane Northwood Middlesex

31 March 1901 Census for residents of [Merrylee, location?] Green Lane, Northwood, London HA6 1AB 51.611432, -0.4236858

• Alexander Hill, head, married, male aged 45 [born about 1856] in Scotland; Mining Engineer, C.E.
• Mary M R Hill, wife, married, female aged 43 [born about 1858] in Hereford, Herefordshire
• Lawrence C Hill, son, single, male aged 10 [born about 1891] in Portugal
• 4 siblings, 3 servants

From MyHeritage: 1911 England & Wales Census

2 April 1911 Census for residents of The Red Herts Military Quarters, [Fort Burgoyne, Fort Burgoyne Road, Guston, Dover CT15 5LP 51.1362377, 1.3213527]

• Richard Louis Carr, single, male, aged 18 [born about 1893] in Córdoba, Spain (British by parentage, resident); Mining student NOTE: first cousin
• Lawrence Carr Hill, single, male, aged 20 [born about 1891] in Lisbon, Portugal (British by parentage, resident); Mining student

From London Gazette Issue 28949 Friday, 23 October 1914 Page 8520

The undermentioned Cadets and ex-Cadets of the Officers Training Corps to be temporary Second Lieutenants. Dated Saturday, 24 October 1914:

Corps of Royal Engineers:

Laurence Carr Hill.

From Geni - 1919 Laurence Hill Tunnelling Lecture.pdf

A copy of the notes prepared by Laurence Hill for a lecture at the Rio Tinto Debating Society in 1919. These are an interesting account of his work tunnelling under the German front line to lay mines during WWI.

Gazetted Awards and Mentions in Despatches

• Name: Laurence Carr Hill
• Nationality: British
• Rank: Temporary Captain
• Gallantry Awards: Distinguished Service Order
• Gazette Info: 6818
• Gazette Date: 3 June 1919
• Duty Location: France & Flanders
• Service: British Army
• Regiment: Royal Engineers (177th Tunnelling Company)
• Service: BA

From The National Archives: Medal card of Lieutenant L C Hill, Royal Engineers

• Reference: WO 372/24/29806
• Medal card of Lieutenant L C Hill
• Royal Engineers
• Date: 1908-1924
• Held by: The National Archives, Kew
• Legal status: Public Record(s)
• Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
• Description: Mentions in Despatches, Meritorious Service Medals and Territorial Force Efficiency Medals

From London Gazette Issue 31370 Friday, 30 May 1919 Page 6818 Awarded the Distinguished Service Order

Temporary Major [T./Maj.] Laurence Carr Hill, M.C., 177th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers

From London Gazette Supplement 34939 Tuesday, 3 September 1940 Page 5391

Corps of Royal Engineers. The undermentioned to be Lieutenants: —

Friday, 19 July 1940: — Major Laurence Carr Hill, D.S.O., M.C.

Obituary - Northern Mine Research Society

From FreeBMD - Registration of death of Laurence C. Hill in 1959

April to June 1959: Registration of death of Laurence C. Hill; aged 68 [born about 1891]; in Gosport, Hampshire (Volume 6b, Page 273)

From British Newspaper Archive: Portsmouth Evening News Thursday, 7 May 1959 Page 20 Hill Head engineer dies at 69

A past-president of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a mining engineer in Spain for 47 years, Colonel Laurence Carr Hill has died at his home, Fairhaven, Hill Head, aged 69.

Colonel Hill won the D.S.O. and M.C. in World War I, and in World War II he was Chief Royal Engineer in Malta.

He was still working as a mining engineer for the Rio Tinto Company in Spain, having started with them in 1912. Besides being a member and a past President of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, he was an Associate of the Royal School of Mines, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ 51.499796, -0.175699.

[Note] Minas de Ríotinto 37.683, -6.583

Colonel Hill was a member of both [Hill Head Sailing Club, Cliff Road, Fareham PO14 3JT 50.8179308, -1.2408259] and [Lee-on-the-Solent Sailing Club, 46 Marine Parade East, Lee-on-the-Solent PO13 9BW 50.7974075, -1.1983887]. He leaves a widow and three sons.

From Ancestry 19590727 probate Laurence Carr Hill Fairhaven Hill Head Fareham Hampshire d 19590504 pr Winchester Nan Brolochan Hill widow £18475

27 July 1959 probate of Laurence Carr Hill of Fairhaven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire, who died 4 May 1959, probate granted at Winchester, on 27 July 1959 to Nan Brolochan Hill, widow. Effects £18475 8s. 1d.

Possibly Fairhaven, [3 Hill Head Road, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 3JH 50.8158253, -1.2276636]