Lieutenant Turcopolier of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.

AMONG his distinctions, Sir William Hillary was Lieutenant Turcopolier of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and we think that our readers will be interested to know exactly what that rank implied. For information on this point we are indebted to a Commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the British Realm, who takes a great interest in the work of the Life-boat Service, and was largely instrumental in bringing about, two years ago, the closer co-operation between the Institution and the St.

John Ambulance Brigade, the British Red Cross and the St. Andrew's Ambulance Association for the rendering of first aid to shipwrecked men who may be brought ashore injured and to lifeboatmen who may be injured on service.* He writes :— " In the Sovereign Order the Office of Turcopolier was traditionally held by an Englishman. It was a very high office at Malta. The Lieutenant Turcopolier was his deputy. Originally, the light cavalry of the Order, during the Crusades, were termed ' Turcopoles,' but the duties of the Turcopolier changed * See The Lifeboat for September, 1926. during the days of the Hospitallers' maritime glories at Rhodes and Malta.

Here is where the singular appropriateness comes in of Sir William Hillary holding the title—' the Turcopolier was Commandant of the Coastguard and : Inspector of Coast Defences.' Of course, he had other duties, including representation of the Grand Priory of England at the Order's Council." The circumstances in which Sir William Hillary was elected Lieutenant Turcopolier are given in the records of the Grand Priory of the British Realm of the Order, and we cannot do better than quote the record as it appears, and as it has kindly been given us by the Secretary of the Grand Priory of the British Realm :— " At a meeting of Chapter of Council held at 50 Chancery Lane, London, on the 7th July, 1838, a letter was read from the Hon. Sir William Hillary, Bart., dated Fort Ami, Isle of Man, the 13th day of June, 1838, stating the veneration which he felt for the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, that he was present at Malta and witnessed the inauguration of the last Grand Master, the Baron Frederick Hompech; that he was made the medium of overtures to the British Government which if acted upon would have prevented the loss of Malta to the Order, and the dispersion of the Knights; and that he would be proud and happy to take his part in and render his aid to, so splendid a work as the revival of the time-honoured institution of the Knights Hospitallers ; also that his only son, Augustus W. Hillary, Esq., participated in his sentiments, and would join in the restitution of the ancient and illustrious Fraternity.* Hillary's Public Services.

" The Council having taken the letter into consideration and the circumstances that upon the renewal of the war with France in 1803, Sir William raised at his own expense and many years commanded the first Essex Legion of Infantry and Cavalry, amounting to 14 hundred men, the largest force then offered by any private individual for the defence of the country, in consideration of which and other services the Baronetage was conferred upon him by the personal direction of His Majesty King George the Third; that Sir William is the senior Equerry of His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, * It was early in the nineteenth century that the English branch of the Order, which had been dormant since the Reformation, was revived.—EDITOR.

with whom he passed much of his early life upon the Continent; and also that the Hon. Baronet has subsequently become the projector and through his successful efforts happily the founder of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck ; Sir William Hillary was proposed and duly elected a Knight of Justice of the English Langue of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and also a corresponding member of Council.

" The Council also duly elected Augustus William Hillary Esquire of Unerigg Hall, Cumberland, only son of the Hon. Baronet of Danbury, a Knight of Justice of the English Langue of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem." The election to the Office of Lieutenant Turcopolier took place at a later meeting, as follows :— " At a General Chapter of the Langue held at 21 Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square, London, on the 24th June, 1841, it was resolved that the Commander the Hon. Sir William Hillary, Bart., shall be mutitioned to the office of Lieutenant of the Turcopolier and shall be virtute qfficii one of the Capitular Baillies of this Langue and a Knight Grand Cross." In the same year Sir William Hillary published " An Address to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem on the Christian Occupation of the Holy Land as a Sovereign State under their Dominion.".