Papers of James Hillyar - please see individual item records plus a description of the collection in HYL.

Administrative / biographical background
James Hillyar was the son of a naval surgeon. He entered the Navy in 1779 and after service in the American War and the ensuing peace, won a commission from Lord Hood in 1794 for his services at Toulon and in Corsica early in the French Revolutionary War. As a lieutenant he served under Sir Robert Stopford in a number of ships, initially HMS AQUILON including at the Battle of 1 June 1794. On promotion to commander in 1800 he commanded HMS NIGER, armed 'en flute' as a troopship to the Mediterranean, where he was involved in boat actions and similar operations. The armament of the NIGER was increased to justify this and he remained in her in the Mediterranean until 1807. Nelson had a very high regard for Hillyar and was instrumental in securing his advance to post-captain in 1804. He was subsequently flag-captain to both Sir Eliab Harvey and Rear-Admiral Pickmore in the Baltic, and then Saumarez put him in command of the frigate HMS PHOEBE there in 1809. He later sailed to the East where he was present at the taking of Mauritius in 1810 and Java in 1811. In 1813, still in the PHOEBE, he went to attack American fur interests in the Pacific North-West but sent on a consort to do this and diverted to hunt for the American frigate ESSEX, which was raiding British shipping off South America. Eventually he found and blockaded her in Valparaiso. On breaking out the Amercan lost a topmast in a squall, which sufficiently disabled her to make her anchor, where Hillyar pressed home the advantage and captured her, though he was accused of taking an unfair advantage. In 1830–31 he commanded HMS REVENGE under Sir Edward Codrington, and for a short time as senior officer in the North Sea during the siege of Antwerp. He was then in HMS CALEDONIA on the coast of Portugal during 1832 and early 1833. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1837. Hillyar married Mary, a daughter of Nathaniel Taylor, naval storekeeper at Malta, in 1805. His sons included Admiral Sir Charles Farrell Hillyar (1817-1888) and Admiral Henry Schank Hillyar (1819-1893). He died at Torpoint, Cornwall, in 1843, and was buried in the parish churchyard at Anthony.