Sir George Francis Hill,
KCB,
FBA (22 December 1867 – 18 October 1948) was the
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
and principal librarian of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
(1931–1936). He was a specialist in
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
medals.
Early years
George Hill was born in
Berhampur
Brahmapur (; also known as Berhampur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Odisha. Bramhapur is most famous for its street food, silk sarees or pato sarees, temples and many historical places. Bramhapur al ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. His grandfather, Micaiah Hill, founded the
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...
's outpost there and his father, Samuel John Hill, was stationed where George was born. He attended
Blackheath College (later known as
Eltham College
Eltham College is an independent day school situated in Mottingham, southeast London. Eltham and Mottingham once formed part of the same parish, hence its name. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).
Early hi ...
) followed by
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = Â ...
, and finally
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...
.
He studied under
Percy Gardner
Percy Gardner, (24 November 184617 July 1937) was an English classical archaeologist and numismatist. He was Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1879 to 1887. He was Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and ...
at Merton, taking a
first class degree
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
in classics.
There he also gained an interest in
numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
. He was awarded the
medal of the Royal Numismatic Society The Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society was first awarded in 1883. It is awarded by the Royal Numismatic Society and is one of the highest markers of recognition given to numismatists. The President and Council award the Medal annually to an "in ...
in 1915.
Career
In 1893, Hill joined the British Museum in the Coins and Medals Department. At that time, the department was the centre of study of Greek coins. Hill continued the work of Barclay Head and
Reginald Poole; in 1897 was published the first volume of a catalogue of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
coins. Hill subsequently produced catalogues of many of the British Museum's collections in his area. In 1912, he became keeper of the department.
In 1931, he was appointed Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum.
Whilst director, he purchased the
Codex Sinaiticus
The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...
from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and, with the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, the
George Eumorfopoulos oriental antiquities collection.
Hill was editor of the ''
Journal of Hellenic Studies
''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in Hellenic studies. It also publishes reviews of recent books of importance to Hellenic studies. It was established in 1880 and is published by Camb ...
'' from 1898 to 1912. He was knighted in 1933.
Personal life
In 1897, he married Mary Paul, whose parents lived in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
He retired in 1936 and died in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1948.
Bibliography
* Hill, George Francis
''Historical Greek Coins'' London : Archibald Constable and Co., 1906.
* Ward, John
''Greek Coins and their Parent Cities'' London : John Murray, 1902. (accompanied by a catalogue of the author’s collection by Sir George Francis Hill)
* Hill, George Francis, ''The Development of Arabic Numerals in Europe'', Oxford, 1915.
*Hill, Francis, ''A History of Cyprus'' in 4 volumes, Cambridge, 1940–1952.
** Vol. 1, ''To the Conquest by Richard Lion Heart'', 1940
2010 pbk reprint
** Vol. 2, ''The Frankish Period, 1192–1432'', 1940
2010 pbk reprint
** Vol. 3, ''The Frankish Period, 1432–1571'', 1948.
2010 pbk reprint
** Vol. 4, (edited by Harry Luke) ''The Ottoman Province, the British Colony, 1571–1948'', 1952; 2010 pbk reprint
References
External links
*
*
Digital Library Numis (DLN)Online numismatic books and articles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, George Francis
1867 births
1948 deaths
People from West Bengal
Alumni of University College London
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
English curators
English numismatists
English non-fiction writers
Academic journal editors
Directors of the British Museum
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
English male non-fiction writers
Scholars of ancient Greek history