Revised Jun 21 2021
Happily, the Hill dynasty was not destined to last long. He had given out, says Mr, Brodie, "that he was a very near relative of the Duke of Bedford, and that the Duchess seldom rode out in her carriage without him."* But whilst the people listened, and still their wonder grew at his magnificent accounts of himself, and of his noble friends, who should arrive on their shores, in H.M.S. Actaeon, in 1837, but Captain Lord Edward Russell, a son of the Duke of Bedford!
A spectre could not have been a more appalling visitant to the so-called relative of the Russells. He would have been forthwith taken from the place by Lord Edward; but this could not have been done without orders. Soon, however, Captain H. W. Bruce (afterwards Admiral Bruce, Commander-in-chief on the coast of Africa) arrived in H. M. S. Imogene, and quietly carried off Mr. Hill, landing him, in 1838, safe at Valparaiso.