John Hill (c.1751- ) was found guilty on 24 March 1785 at Greenwich, Kent, of breaking into a house and stealing four linen shirts, a pair of linen sheets and five petticoats. He was also charged with escaping from the police on the way to gaol. His death sentence was commuted to life transportation. He was sent to the Justitia hulk on 25 August 1785 and embarked for New South Wales on the Alexander in January 1787, arriving in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
It is not known with certainty if it was this John Hill or the one who came on the Scarborough who died in 1788. A John Hill was also hanged in 1794 for the murder of Simon Burn.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 174
'Hill, John (c. 1751–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/hill-john-31281/text38667, accessed 2 June 2023.
c. 1751
Crime: theft (house)
Sentence: life