Early Years - Surgeon-Major Henry Benjamin Hinton

From his Journal - Adelaide January 1887

I remember having been told in childhood days that I was born on a Sunday in a house on Jubilee Terrace, Southsea, on the 7th March 1813.

Southsea is a suburb of Portsmouth (United Kingdom) , the Royal Naval Seaport of England.

The Terrace had been recently built, in honor of George the 3rd, who then in 1809 reigned for fifty years over the United Kingdom.

I was the fifth child, and third son, of a family of thirteen, of whom the eldest, Eliza, still survives in England, and one sister Emma, and four brothers are alive in Australia.

At the time of my birth my father was Cashier in the Bank of Godwin, Minchin, Harker, of the Parade, Portsmouth.

My dear mother Elizabeth Pridie was of a French Hugenout family, of dark complexion, black hair, and eyes, had a sweet disposition, and when she had ceased bearing childrren was still a handsome woman.

One of the earliest recollections of my life was being sent to a d(?)ames school on the Parade, Portsmouth - and for some slight offence a bible was tied round my neck, one of my brothers told of this when we got home and my mother had us removed.

When we were young and troublesome, the servants used to threaten us that Bony would come, and take us away - this always had a quieting effect, and it was a relief a few years afterwards when we heard that the great Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been the terror of Europe, had died at St Helena - in after years I obtained a slip of willow tree that grew over his remains there.

At the time when he contemplated the invasion of England, my father joined a volunteer rifle corps, and we boys were delighted...his green uniform and musquet, which had been stowed away for years in the garret clost - after that we found a pair of small pocket pistols in an upper drawer of the wardrobe, and indulged in ball practise, without telling any one, until all the ammunition was expended - children are unconcious of danger until it stares them in the face; on one occasion we climbed out of the garret window, and crawled up the slate roof until we reached the top of it, where we remained for some time, while our mother on her return from town, when about half a mile off, beheld her boys on the roof, and hurried home in great anxiety, less she should find us killed; however, when we opened the door to let her in, anxiety was turned ...on finding us alive and well.