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 Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(1931–1936). He was a specialist in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

medals.

Early years

George Hill was born in

Berhampur Berhampur (; also known as Brahmapur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Odisha, India. Known as the "Silk City" it is the headquarter of Ganjam district, Ganjam district and home to Odisha's one of the major and the oldest railway station ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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 tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

'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 a private 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 history ...

) followed by

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, and finally

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. 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 an ...

at Merton, taking a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

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 inclu ...

. 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: 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 of all kno ...

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), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

from the

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and, with the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, 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

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, Italy. He retired in 1936 and died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 the Bengal Presidency Alumni of University College London Alumni of Merton College, Oxford English curators English numismatists English non-fiction writers British 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 British people in colonial India