In 1889, Gill discovered ancient stone tools while sketching at Rock Creek Park, later estimated as dating to around 2000 BC. He later took photographs of the artifacts in situ for an archaeological exploration organized by Holmes, his first known photographic work.
In 1894, Powell resigned from the USGS to focus on administration of the BAE. Four years later, Gill also resigned in order to continue work on Bureau publications. Despite having no prior training in photography, Gill was appointed as the Bureau's photographer following the resignation of the BAE's two previous photographers. In this position, Gill's work consisted of portrait photography of Native American subjects, primarily delegates to the capital, at a rate of hundreds of individuals per year. The total number of his portraits is unknown, but has been estimated to be between 2,000 and 3,000; an Evening Times account upon his retirement put the figure at around 7,000. He also extensively classified and cataloged the resulting photographic negatives along ethnolinguistic lines, at one point re-cataloging the entire BAE archive of Native portraits.
Delegations of Native American peoples to Washington, D.C., were common throughout the 19th century, often to negotiate treaties or dissuade frontier conflicts. Government photography of these delegations had begun in the 1860s and 1870s. The frequency of delegations increased over the 1890s, with many arriving during winter congressional sessions. They were generally not paid to sit for photographs, although Apache chief Geronimo, who had fixed prices for portrait sittings, successfully demanded payment from Gill before shooting.
Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, ordered that Native delegations should be photographed without headdresses so that the "configuration of the head" could be recorded. William Henry Holmes, succeeding Powell as Chief of the BAE in 1902, also emphasized the "anthropometric elements" of the photographs, placing items with known sizes around subjects in order to allow for facial and cranial measurements to be taken. However, as ethnographic and historical purposes were increasingly pursued, subjects were often depicted with headdresses, wearing Native dress and holding tools or artifacts associated with their tribe. Occasionally, subjects were given clothing that was anachronistic or from other tribes. Gill photographed all studio subjects in a "mug-shot" approach, with head-and-shoulders profile and front-facing shots. However, full body shots were also taken, usually of subjects in traditional clothing.


Prior to 1904, Gill photographed delegations at the Downtown offices of the BAE. However, the walk downtown was disliked by many delegates, who preferred to stay in the vicinity of the Smithsonian. The studio was later moved to the upper floor of the Smithsonian's National Museum Building (now the Arts and Industries Building).
Gill occasionally took field photographs of Native Americans in addition to his studio portraiture. In 1899, he photographed residents of the Pamunkey Reservation. The following year, he partnered with William John McGee on an expedition to Arizona and New Mexico, photographing members of the Akimel O'odham, Cocopah, Seri, and Tohono Oʼodham. During this expedition, he named Klotho's Temple, one of the Muggins Mountains of southwestern Arizona.
Gill also accompanied Holmes to document Native American archaeological sites, working both as a photographer and field assistant. In 1901, they investigated sites in Missouri and the Indian Territory, recording the bones of humans and extinct mammals. He worked with Holmes to photograph archaeological sites in Maryland: his 1907 work at a site on Popes Creek was later described by biographer J .R. Glenn as "some of his best field photographs." In 1918, they investigated remains discovered at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.
In addition to portraits, Gill prepared and photographed in Smithsonian anthropological publications, including many in the collections of other institutions. In 1913, he photographed Ho-Chunk medicine bundles at University Museum, writing that he attempted to "eliminate all but the genuine old stuff".
Many notable Native American figures were photographed by Gill, including the delegation sent to Washington during the second inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt. He described the Nez Perce Chief Joseph, photographed on several occasions, as having "the dignity of a chief justice" and "an air of gentleness and quiet reserve." In one 1903 sitting, Gill asked Joseph for a totem mark as a substitute for his signature. Instead, Joseph signed his name in full for Gill, alongside the year 1900. He ignored protests from Gill regarding the incorrect date, claiming it was exactly how he was taught to sign by a friend. Gill's photography prominently featured in Smithsonian publications during his career, such as the Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, as well as posthumously in the 1978 Handbook of North American Indians. Over the course of the 1910s, displays of his prints were shown at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, the Panama–California Exposition, as well as various public libraries. His 1905 portrait of Hollow Horn Bear was used on a fourteen-cent postage stamp in 1923.
From 1903 to 1905, Gill delegated some of his portrait work to United States National Museum photographer Thomas Smillie. Due to Gill's worsening eyesight, many of his photography duties with the Smithsonian were transferred to A. J. Olmsted in 1926, although he continued to be involved with portrait photography in a limited capacity. He continued work as illustration editor for various bureaus within the Smithsonian in addition to the BAE, including the United States National Museum. In October 1931, he photographed Crazy Bull, grandson of Sitting Bull. This would be one of his last photographs taken for the Bureau.
The Economy Act of 1932 prompted Gill to retire from the Smithsonian and declare his intention to focus on art and painting. Following his retirement, the BAE was left without a head photographer, and photographs of visiting Native delegations largely shifted to informal sittings.


Gill's early portraits, especially full-body and group photographs, were characterized by Glenn as inartistic, featuring stiff poses in front of "wrinkled and ill-draped backdrops". Gill worked within the ethnographic, historical, and anthropometric demands of the BAE alongside his own artistic goals, with full body shots mainly serving to document clothing rather than the subject themselves.
Gill's initial closer-framed portraits, showing just the head and shoulders, were likewise described by Glenn as "crowded" and "ill-framed". However, Glenn saw a significant improvement over the course of Gill's early career, with his close portraits showing greater artistic intent than full-body shots. He would take great care to edit pieces for prints and publication: a portrait of Wolf Robe was heavily cropped in order to create a more artistic design. The romantic and pictorialist composition of his later work was potentially inspired by the contemporary photography of Native Americans by Edward S. Curtis.
Like that of Curtis, Gill's work has been described as salvage ethnography. The provision of props and clothing for the delegate's portraits, alongside deliberate posing, were accepted during the period as a means to record what was perceived as a vanishing culture. Gill occasionally provided his subjects with anachronistic or outdated clothing, some possibly sourced from Smithsonian collections. In over a dozen cases, subjects from the same delegation were shown with the same clothing and props. One photograph showed a Kickapoo subject wearing Blackfoot leggings and a breechclout from the Iowa or Otoe. Such inaccuracies were ubiquitous among contemporary White photographers of Native Americans. In other cases, Gill photographed "show Indians", performers who wore clothing intended to appeal to public conceptions of Native dress. For unclear purposes, a troupe of four Dakota from the 101 Ranch Wild West Show were each pictured wearing the same headdress, despite wearing separate headgear in a group photo.
Gill's provision of props and clothing to portrait subjects has been criticized for their reinforcement of cultural stereotypes and homogenization of Native American cultures, in lieu of accurate ethnographic representation. Anthropologist and photographer Gene J. Crediford described Gill and other contemporary photographers of Native Americans as "[showing] a disrespect for their subjects in the name of aesthetics." Strictly delineated forms of dress among Native American nations did not emerge due to an active intertribal clothing trade; however, the provision of the articles by photographers such as Gill was made without regard to specific trade connections. Some delegates may have enjoyed the provided "inauthentic" clothing, as many pieces (such as feathers and war bonnets) were generally associated with prestigious status.


Gill married his first wife, Rose DeLima Draper, on May 25, 1881. They had six children before Rose Gill died in 1893, including Robert Gill, a major in the Corps of Engineers. He married fellow Smithsonian illustrator Mary Irwin Wright on August 19, 1895. They had one daughter, Minna P. Gill, who became a prominent suffragist and librarian. They divorced in 1903, but continued to collaborate in their work. On January 2, 1905, he married Katharine Schley Hemmick, with whom he had one child.
Gill was an active cyclist: during the 1880s he served as a team captain of the Capital Bicycle Club, an early American cyclists' organization. He was later a member of the Cosmos Club, the Society of Washington Artists, and the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia. He taught painting classes at the Corcoran School of Art and the Art Students League of Washington. He collected and transcribed a large number of African-American spirituals and folk songs. He also collected antiques, and was described as an expert on oriental rugs and East Asian porcelain.


Following his retirement from the Smithsonian, Gill moved to Alexandria, Virginia. He died on August 31, 1940, after fracturing his skull falling down a staircase at his home.


During the 1912–13 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Southern League Division One. It was the 19th season in which the club competed in the Southern League and the 18th in Division One. The team competed under the name Gillingham for the first time, having previously been called New Brompton, and also adopted red and blue shirts, replacing the previous black and white stripes. Gillingham began the season in poor form and did not score a single goal in their first six home matches. The team achieved a four-game unbeaten run in November but at the end of December were 16th out of 20 teams in the league table. In the second half of the season the team's form remained inconsistent: they lost every league game in January but had a six-game unbeaten run in March and April. Gillingham finished the season 15th in the table.
Gillingham also competed in the FA Cup. After holding Barnsley, the previous season's winners of the competition, to a draw at home in the first round, Gillingham were defeated in a replay at Barnsley's ground. The team played 42 competitive matches, winning 13, drawing 12, and losing 17. Arthur Wolstenholme was the team's top goalscorer, with four goals in the league and seven in total. John Boden, Dick Goffin, and Charlie Hafekost were the joint highest scorers in league matches only, with five goals each. Andrew Mosley made the most appearances, playing in every game. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Road, was 11,321 for the FA Cup match against Barnsley.


Gillingham, founded in 1893 under the name New Brompton, had played in the Southern League since the competition's formation in 1894; the team had been promoted from Division Two in 1895 and remained in Division One ever since, but with little success. The team had only finished in the top half of the league table once in the preceding seven seasons and in the 1911–12 season had finished 18th out of 20 teams, avoiding relegation to Division Two by just one place. At the time, the majority of clubs in the two divisions of the ostensibly national Football League were from the northern half of the country, and some of the leading clubs from the south played in the Southern League. In 1920, the clubs in the Southern League's top division would be admitted to the Football League en masse to form its new Third Division.


On 6 June, the club's board of directors took the decision to change the club's name to Gillingham Football Club to reflect the fact that in the decades since the club's formation the previously small settlement of Gillingham had outgrown and absorbed New Brompton. The name change would not be formally approved by the shareholders until the following summer; nonetheless the team played under the new name in the 1912–13 season. Two days later, the first recorded meeting of the club's Supporters' Association took place, at which it was resolved to raise money to finance the building of more terracing at one end of the club's Priestfield Road ground. Along with the new name, the club adopted a new kit featuring red shirts with blue sleeves, replacing the previous black and white stripes, and for the first time added the coat of arms of the borough to the shirts.
As was often the case in the early 20th century, the club did not employ a full-time team manager; most tasks associated with a modern manager, such as the signing of new players, were among the responsibilities of the club's secretary, William Ironside Groombridge. New players to join the club included Arthur Wolstenholme, a forward who had last played for Blackpool of the Football League Second Division. Two players from Leyton, who had dropped out of the Southern League at the end of the previous season, also joined Gillingham: Tom Leslie, a full-back who had previously played for Tottenham Hotspur, and the veteran half-back Mark Bell, who had gained one cap for Scotland a decade earlier.


The club's first match of the season, on 7 September, was away to Northampton Town. Wolstenholme scored a goal on his debut for the club, but Gillingham lost 2–1 in what The People called a "capital game". The first home game a week later resulted in a 0–0 draw against Queens Park Rangers (QPR); the writer for The People noted that the game was even in the first half but that QPR attacked more in the second. Gillingham achieved their first win of the season on 21 September when a late goal from Albert Court gave them a 1–0 victory away to Brentford. They ended September by again drawing 0–0 at home, this time with Millwall, and began October with two away games, losing 2–1 to Reading and winning 2–0 against Bristol Rovers, who had lost every game of the season so far. The game on 12 October against Swindon Town ended in a third consecutive home 0–0 draw; the first goal of the season at Priestfield Road was scored four days later by Reading, who went on to secure a 4–0 victory. The reporter for the Daily Herald wrote that Gillingham attacked more than their opponents in the first half but in the second they were "all adrift" and "the few attacks they made were not at all dangerous".
Albert Bailey, Gillingham's goalkeeper, was hospitalised after suffering a broken jaw during a 4–0 defeat to Exeter City on 26 October; Harry Crane took his place in the team for the next game, a 4–0 defeat to West Ham United; it was Gillingham's fourth consecutive defeat, three of them by a score of 4–0. A goalless draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on 9 November meant that Gillingham had scored only one goal in their last six league matches and had still not registered a goal in a home match. The team ended a six-match winless run with a 2–1 victory away to Coventry City on 16 November with goals from John Boden and Dick Goffin. A week later, Boden scored Gillingham's first goal of the season at Priestfield Road in their seventh home game. The team's captain, Jack Mahon, was missing due to injury but despite his absence the team secured a 2–0 victory over Watford. Boden scored for the third consecutive game in a 1–1 draw at home to Merthyr Town in the final match of November; it meant that Gillingham had gone four games without defeat, their longest undefeated run of the season to this point.
Boden scored for the fourth consecutive game in a 2–1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on 7 December; he had a chance to score a second goal but his penalty kick was saved. Gillingham also lost their next game at home, a 1–0 defeat to Southampton. The team ended 1912 with three games in four days. On Christmas Day, they played at home to Norwich City; in a match played in pouring rain and a high wind, a goal from Goffin gave the home team a 1–0 victory. The teams played again the following day at The Nest, Norwich's home ground, and Gillingham lost 4–0; an injury to Abel Lee meant that Gillingham had to play the whole of the second half with only ten men. Arthur Johnson, who had missed the last two games after previously having been ever-present in the team, returned to the team in place of Lee for the final game of 1912 and scored from a penalty in a 2–1 victory over Northampton Town. The result left Gillingham 16th out of 20 teams in the table at the end of 1912.


Gillingham's first match of 1913 was away to Queens Park Rangers on 4 January; Mahon made his first appearance since November. QPR scored in the first half and, although Gillingham had several shots on goal, they could not equalise and their opponents added a second goal in the final minute of the game. Gillingham again failed to score in the next league game, losing 4–0 at home to Brentford; it was the first time Brentford had won away from home during the season and the writer for the Daily Herald commented that the Gillingham players looked tired after playing an FA Cup game two days earlier. Bailey returned to the team on 25 January for the first time since October; a 2–1 defeat away to Millwall meant that Gillingham had lost every league game during the month. The writer for The People was of the opinion that the result could have been different if Gillingham had had "a steadier line of forwards". The team ended their winless run with a 1–0 victory over Bristol Rovers thanks to a goal from Wolstenholme. Jock Taylor scored twice in a 2–1 win over Portsmouth on 22 February; Gillingham ended the month 17th in the table.
Gillingham's first game of March was a 2–0 defeat away to Exeter City; Johnson appeared to have pulled a goal back for Gillingham with a penalty, but the referee ordered the kick to be retaken due to an infringement and at the second attempt he missed. It would prove to be the final game in a Gillingham shirt for Boden, Wolstenholme, and Taylor. For the next game at home to West Ham United wholesale changes were made to the forward line: Charlie Hafekost made his first appearance since December, Cornelius John played only his second game of the season and his first since November, and A.G. Church made his debut. Despite the new-look line-up, the writer for The People noted that the Gillingham forwards "worked neatly together in the early stages and gave the visitors' defenders great anxiety". Hafekost gave Gillingham an early lead and, although West Ham scored twice before half-time, a goal from Tom Caldwell in the second half secured a draw for Gillingham. The new forwards retained their places but could not score any goals in the next two games, which resulted in a 1–0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion and a goalless draw with Stoke; Gillingham were spared a second consecutive defeat when Stoke had a late goal disallowed for offside.
Goffin scored twice in a 3–0 victory at home to Coventry City on 22 March; all the goals were scored in the first half. Two days later, two goals from Lee secured a 2–0 win away to Stoke, whom the reporter for The Western Times said were "lamentably weak"; the results meant that Gillingham had gone three games without conceding a goal for the first time since September. Following two draws, a goal from Church gave Gillingham a 1–0 win away to Crystal Palace on 12 April, extending the team's unbeaten run to six games. The streak came to an end a week later with a 4–0 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle. Having only scored more than two goals in a game once during the first 36 league matches, Gillingham achieved the feat in both of the last two games of the season. A 3–3 draw away to Southampton was followed by a 4–2 win at Priestfield Road over Plymouth, who were already assured of the Division One championship; it was the first time the team had scored four times in a match since January 1912. John and Lee gave Gillingham a half-time lead and Johnson scored two goals after the interval, both from penalty kicks. Gillingham finished the campaign 15th in the league table, seven points above the relegation places. It was an improvement on the previous season's performance but the team's fourth consecutive finish in the bottom half of the table.


As a Southern League Division One team, Gillingham entered the 1912–13 FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage; they were due to play Leyton on 1 December but received a walkover as their opponents withdrew from the competition. In the fifth and final qualifying round, Gillingham played away to Spennymoor United of the North Eastern League. Gillingham reportedly offered a three-figure sum to their opponents to switch the match to Priestfield Road, but it was rejected. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, necessitating a replay, in which Wolstenholme scored twice and Taylor once in a 3–0 victory. In the first round proper, Gillingham played Barnsley of the Football League Second Division, who had won the previous season's FA Cup; the match drew a crowd of 11,321, the highest attendance recorded at Priestfield Road during the season. Gillingham had a number of goalscoring chances against the reigning cup-holders but were unable to convert them and the game ended in a goalless draw. In the replay at Oakwell, Barnsley took a two-goal lead in the early stages. Goffin reduced the arrears with a goal before half-time, but after the interval Barnsley scored again to secure a 3–1 victory and eliminate Gillingham from the competition; the correspondent for the Daily Mirror wrote that Barnsley were the better team throughout and that Gillingham's players tired late in the game.


During the season, 20 players made at least one appearance for Gillingham. Andrew Mosley made the most, playing in every one of the team's 42 competitive games. Johnson missed only two games and Goffin only four. Peter Glen made the fewest appearances, playing only twice. Wolstenholme was the top goalscorer; he scored four times in the league and three in the FA Cup. Boden, Goffin, and Hafekost were joint top scorers in the league alone, with five each.


Prior to the next season, Gillingham opted to employ a full-time team manager, appointing the former Liverpool player Sam Gilligan as player-manager. In his first season in charge, the team finished 13th in the Southern League Division One.
The red and blue shirts proved short-lived and after the First World War the team reverted to wearing black and white stripes, before switching to all-blue shirts in the 1930s. In the 2012–13 season Gillingham wore a modern version of the red and blue shirts to mark the centenary of the club changing its name.


During the 1981–82 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 50th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 32nd since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Keith Peacock was appointed as the club's new manager prior to the season. The team began the season in poor form and at the end of September were 17th out of 24 teams in the league table, but then won six consecutive games and in November were briefly top of the league. They could not maintain the position, however, and by January had slipped back into the bottom half of the table. Results improved, but the team failed to get back into contention for promotion and ultimately finished sixth in the division.
Gillingham also took part in three other competitions during the season. They reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in more than a decade, narrowly losing to West Bromwich Albion of the First Division, but were eliminated at the earliest stage of both the Football League Cup and the Football League Group Cup. The team played 57 competitive matches, winning 23, drawing 16, and losing 18. Ken Price and Dean White were joint top goalscorer, with 14 goals each. Steve Bruce made the most appearances, playing 54 times. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 16,000 for the FA Cup match against West Bromwich Albion.


The 1981–82 season was Gillingham's 50th season playing in the Football League and the 32nd since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's seventh consecutive season in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system, since the team gained promotion from the Fourth Division in 1974. In the six seasons since then, Gillingham had achieved a best finish of fourth place, one position away from promotion to the Second Division, in the 1978–79 season. The club had never reached the second level of English football in its history.
In July, Keith Peacock was appointed as the club's new manager; he had most recently worked as the assistant manager of Tampa Bay Rowdies in the United States. He replaced Gerry Summers, who had been dismissed from his post at the end of the previous season, partly due to controversy surrounding his decision to release several popular players, including Damien Richardson, from their contracts. Peacock appointed Paul Taylor, with whom he had recently worked in the United States, as his assistant manager; Bill Collins, who had been with the club in a variety of roles since the early 1960s, held the posts of first-team trainer and manager of the youth team. Peacock signed three new players ahead of the season, all of whom he had played alongside at Charlton Athletic. Dick Tydeman, a 30-year-old midfielder, joined from Charlton as the new manager's first signing, and was appointed team captain; Tydeman had played over 300 games for Gillingham in a previous spell from 1969 to 1976. Colin Powell, a 33-year old winger, also arrived from Charlton, where he had made over 300 appearances. The club's third signing was Richie Bowman, a 26-year old midfielder who joined the club from Reading. Peacock also attempted to sign Winston DuBose, a goalkeeper whom he had coached in the United States, but the player was refused a UK work permit.
The players' kit for the season consisted of Gillingham's usual blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. The away kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the home team, was all-red. The team prepared for the new season with several friendlies, including one against West Ham United of the First Division. In an attempt to incentivise teams to play in a more attacking manner, the Football League made a rule change for the new season, increasing the number of points awarded to the team winning a match from two to three; a draw still gave one point to each team. Peacock wrote in the matchday programme for the first league game of the season that he was a strong proponent of attacking football and that he considered it important that his players "go out with a positive attitude to win rather than just to stop the opposition from winning".


Gillingham's first league game of the season was at their home ground, Priestfield Stadium, against Burnley; goals from forwards Ken Price and Trevor Lee along with an own goal gave Gillingham a 3–1 win. Both players scored again a week later away to Reading, but the game ended in a 3–2 defeat and Gillingham next lost 1–0 at home to Chester. Goalkeeper Ron Hillyard, who had been with the club since 1974, made his return to the team against Chester; teenager Gary Sutton had deputised for him since the first league game of the season after Hillyard suffered a groin strain. On 19 September Gillingham drew 1–1 away to Preston North End with a goal from Danny Westwood on his first appearance in a Football League game for nine months; John Sitton, a defender newly signed from Millwall, made his Gillingham debut. Two days later, a goal from Tydeman secured a 1–0 win away to Brentford, but a defeat and a draw in their next two matches meant that at the end of September, Gillingham were 17th out of 24 teams in the Third Division league table, having won only one of their last six league games.
The team's fortunes changed dramatically in October, during which they played six games and won every one. The run began on 3 October with a 2–0 victory away to Wimbledon, who were bottom of the table; Hillyard saved a Wimbledon penalty kick and Bowman scored both goals. A week later he scored again as Gillingham beat 23rd-placed Plymouth Argyle. Against Huddersfield Town on 17 October, Gillingham took a 3–0 lead inside the first 20 minutes and, although their opponents scored twice, held on for a third consecutive victory. A 4–2 win over Portsmouth made Gillingham the division's highest goalscorers up to this point of the season and took them up to fourth place in the table, just outside the top three places which would secure promotion to the Second Division. Dean White, who scored twice against Portsmouth, repeated the feat in the next game, a 2–1 win over Millwall. The result meant that Gillingham had equalled the club record of four consecutive Football League wins away from home and had won five consecutive league games for the first time since the 1972–73 season. White then scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Swindon Town. Gillingham ended October second in the table, behind league leaders Doncaster Rovers only on goal difference; Peacock was the recipient of the division's Manager of the Month award.
Gillingham's bid to equal the club record of seven consecutive league wins failed with a 3–0 defeat away to Southend United and they also lost their next game, a 2–0 defeat away to Bristol Rovers. On 14 November, White scored twice more as Gillingham beat Doncaster to go top of the table. Their stay in first place was short-lived, however, as they dropped to fourth after the final match of November, a 2–0 defeat away to Carlisle United during which John Sharpe was sent off. This was followed by a 4–1 defeat at home to Walsall, the first time the team had conceded four goals in a league game all season. Gillingham's final match of 1981 was at home to Newport County. Dave Kemp, a forward signed on loan from Plymouth Argyle, made his debut and scored in a 1–1 draw; he was selected in place of Lee, who had only scored two goals since September. Bowman was absent from the team after tearing his knee ligaments and would not play again during the season. The result left Gillingham in sixth place in the table at the end of the year, two points below the promotion places.


Scheduled Third Division games on 2 and 23 January were postponed due to the club's continued involvement in the FA Cup, and a game on 9 January was postponed due to blizzards. As a result, Gillingham played only two Third Division matches in January, both of which they lost, being defeated 2–0 by both Lincoln City and Preston North End. By the end of the month, they had slipped into the bottom half of the table. Injuries continued to impact the team; Micky Adams replaced Andy Ford after the latter suffered a knee injury which would ultimately end his professional career. Adams had previously played as a winger but adapted well to the left-back position, and was an ever-present in the team for the remainder of the season. Another defender, Mark Weatherly, also sustained an injury and would not return to the team line-up for two months. On 2 February, 19-year-old Tony Cascarino made his debut in a 1–0 defeat away to Burnley. The forward, signed from amateur club Crockenhill of the Kent League, reportedly in exchange for a set of tracksuits, would go on to make over 200 appearances and score over 100 goals for Gillingham before playing at the highest level of English football and in two FIFA World Cup tournaments. He scored his first goal for the club on 13 February when the team ended a winless league run stretching back to November by defeating Wimbledon 6–1, the first time Gillingham had scored six times in a game since 1973.
Peter Shaw, a defender signed from Charlton Athletic, made his debut on 20 February in a 1–1 draw with Exeter City. A week later, Kemp made his final appearance for Gillingham as his loan spell came to an end. He scored the winning goal against Plymouth, the team from which he was on loan, to leave Gillingham in 11th place at the end of February; Cascarino and Price would be the first-choice forwards for the remainder of the season. The team began March with defeats away to Huddersfield Town and Portsmouth, both without scoring a goal. Cascarino ended the goalless run against Millwall on 12 March but the match ended in a draw. Having gained only one point and scored only one goal in their first three games of March, Gillingham won their next three matches without conceding a goal; Adams scored his first professional goal in a 1–0 win away to Swindon Town on 20 March. Goals against Bristol Rovers a week later took White and Price to 14 and 12 goals for the season respectively; after the victory Gillingham were back up to ninth in the league table. Another teenager, Neil Grewcock, made his debut as a substitute against Oxford United in the final game of the month.
Gillingham extended their unbeaten run with a 1–1 draw against Doncaster Rovers on 3 April; Lee played his first game since January in place of Cascarino. Three days later, Lee was named only as the substitute against Chesterfield but came off the bench to score twice as Gillingham came back from two goals down with 20 minutes of the game remaining to win 3–2. The result took them up to seventh in the table, six points outside the promotion places with ten games still to play. The team's successful run continued with a 2–0 victory over Fulham, but Gillingham lost their next two matches to effectively end any realistic chance of promotion. They achieved a draw on 24 April away to Carlisle United, who were top of the table at the time, but this was immediately followed by a defeat to Bristol City, who were second from bottom. Gillingham produced one of their best runs of the season during the final five games, winning four and drawing the other; in their final away match they beat Chesterfield 3–1, the first time they had scored more than twice away from home all season. The last game of the campaign was at home to Reading on 18 May; Sharpe and Lee scored in a 2–1 victory which meant that their team finished the season sixth in the Third Division table, seven points below the promotion places.


As a Third Division club, Gillingham entered the 1981–82 FA Cup at the first round stage; their opponents were fellow Third Division side Plymouth Argyle. The initial game at Plymouth's ground, Home Park, ended in a goalless draw, necessitating a replay at Priestfield. Despite finishing the game with only ten men after Steve Bruce was sent off, Gillingham won the second match 1–0. In the second round, they faced Barking of the Isthmian League at Priestfield. Gillingham fell behind to a goal from their semi-professional opponents but White equalised from a penalty kick and the game ended in a draw. Barking opted to surrender home advantage for the replay, so the second game also took place at Priestfield. Bruce gave Gillingham the lead but Barking equalised in the 89th minute to send the game into extra time; Gillingham scored twice in the extra period to progress to the third round for the first time in ten years.
The teams from the First and Second Divisions entered the competition in the third round and Gillingham received a home match with Oldham Athletic, who at the time were in second place in the Second Division. Kemp gave Gillingham the lead inside the first ten minutes and White scored from a penalty kick; Oldham pulled a goal back but Gillingham held on for a 2–1 victory. In their first appearance in the fourth round of the FA Cup since 1970, Gillingham's opponents were West Bromwich Albion of the First Division, whose coach was former Gillingham manager Summers. The match drew an attendance of 16,000, the largest crowd recorded at Priestfield for nearly two years, and generated a new club record gate receipt figure of £34,285 (equivalent to £170,000 in 2023). With two minutes remaining, the game remained goalless and Gillingham were on the verge of securing a replay but Albion's Derek Statham scored a goal to win the match and eliminate Gillingham from the competition.


a. ^ The match was played at Gillingham's stadium but remained officially a home game for Barking.


As a Third Division club, Gillingham entered the 1981–82 Football League Cup at the first round stage and were paired with Colchester United of the Fourth Division. The first match of the two-legged tie was played at Colchester's Layer Road ground; Gillingham lost 2–0 to their lower-division opponents. The second leg at Priestfield ended in a 1–1 draw and Gillingham were eliminated from the competition by an aggregate score of 3–1.


The initial round-robin stage of the 1981–82 Football League Group Cup, a newly introduced competition, took place prior to the first Third Division game of the season. Thirty-two clubs from across the Football League's four divisions took part by invitation, and Gillingham were grouped with fellow Third Division teams Southend United and Wimbledon and Orient of the Second. Gillingham's first game was away to Wimbledon on 15 August and resulted in a 4–0 defeat; under a rule specific to this competition, a team scoring three or more goals in a game received a bonus point and Wimbledon's victory was therefore worth four points. A goalless draw at home to Southend four days later combined with a second victory for Wimbledon in their match against Orient meant that Gillingham could not finish top of the group and progress to the quarter-finals; the team's final game in the competition against Orient ended in another draw.
In the matchday programme for the final game of the season, the club dismissed the Group Cup as having been a "pre-season warm-up tournament", even though the latter rounds of the competition extended until April 1982. Gillingham did not take part in the tournament, renamed the Football League Trophy, in the following season, and the competition was discontinued in 1983 and replaced by the Associate Members' Cup, a tournament featuring all Third and Fourth Division teams.


During the season, 27 players made at least one appearance for Gillingham. Bruce made the most, playing 55 times; he missed only one league match and one FA Cup game. Hillyard made 54 appearances, missing two league games and one League Cup match. Six other players featured in over 40 games. At the other end of the scale, three players each played only once, in each case as a substitute. Peter Henderson appeared in only one Group Cup game in August and Nigel Donn played in only one league game; both left the club without playing any further games. Mel Sage, an 18-year old from the club's youth team, made his professional debut in May; he would go on to play well over 100 games for Gillingham before stepping up the Second Division when he was transferred to Derby County in 1986.
Price and White were joint top goalscorer, with 14 goals each; both scored 12 times in the league and twice in cup games. No other player reached double figures. It was the fourth time in five seasons that Price had finished as the team's top scorer.


Bruce was voted the club's player of the year by supporters. Tydeman was voted into the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year for the Third Division by his fellow professionals, the first Gillingham player to be so honoured since 1974. Three days after the final competitive game of the season, Gillingham again played West Ham of the First Division, this time in a testimonial match for Damien Richardson, who had been released at the start of the season after nine years with the club.
Bruce Beckett of the Kent Evening Post wrote at the end of the season that Peacock's appointment had brought fresh optimism to the club and that it would "soon be equipped to achieve a life-long ambition of Second Division soccer", but the team in fact finished further away from the promotion places in both the next two seasons than they had in 1981–82. Beginning in the 1984–85 season, Peacock led Gillingham to three consecutive top-six finishes, but promotion continued to elude the club and a run of bad results in late 1987 led to the manager's dismissal by the board of directors. Gillingham were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1989 and spent seven seasons at the lower level, but after two promotions within five seasons reached the second tier of English football for the first time in 2000.


The Girl Who Lived in the Tree is the thirty-second collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Autumn/Winter 2008 season of his eponymous fashion house. The primary inspirations were British culture and national symbols, particularly the British monarchy, as well as the clothing of India during the British Raj. The collection was presented through the narrative of a fairy tale about a feral girl who lived in a tree before falling in love with a prince and descending to become a princess.
The collection's runway show was staged on 29 February 2008 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. The round stage was dressed in black with a black backdrop, with a large artificial tree in the centre wrapped in dark grey silk; it was inspired by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who were known for wrapping buildings and landmarks in fabric. The presentation was divided into two phases to represent the girl's story; forty-two looks were presented in total, with twenty-three in the first half and nineteen in the second. In the first phase, the ensembles were all in black and white, with most looks having a slim, tailored silhouette. The clothing from the second half was richly coloured, with luxurious materials and embellishments, representing the girl's transformation into a princess.
Critical response to The Girl Who Lived in the Tree was positive, and in retrospect it is regarded as one of McQueen's best collections. Academics have analysed its inspiration and styling through various lenses. The peacock headpiece by Philip Treacy and a dress with lace peacocks attracted particular critical attention and further analysis. Garments from the collection are held by various museums and have appeared in exhibitions such as the McQueen retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. The 2015 semi-biographical play McQueen incorporates ideas from the collection's narrative.


British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was known for his imaginative, sometimes controversial designs, and dramatic fashion shows. During his nearly twenty-year career, he explored a broad range of ideas and themes, including historicism, romanticism, femininity, sexuality, and death. He learned tailoring as an apprentice on Savile Row, and dressmaking as head designer at French fashion house Givenchy. Although he worked in ready-to-wear – clothing produced for retail sale – his showpiece designs featured a degree of craftsmanship that verged on haute couture.


McQueen's graduation collection, Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, was bought in its entirety by magazine editor Isabella Blow, who became another mentor and his muse. Their relationship was turbulent, and they had been estranged when Blow committed suicide in May 2007. McQueen was devastated by her death. For his next collection, McQueen worked closely with Irish milliner Philip Treacy, one of his longtime collaborators and another of Blow's protégés. The collection, La Dame Bleue (Spring/Summer 2008), was dedicated to Blow's memory. Afterward, McQueen travelled to India for a month with his friend and collaborator Shaun Leane. He later described the trip as a "pilgrimage" during which he had worked through his grief by absorbing Buddhist spiritual teachings and culture.
McQueen was devoted to his Scottish heritage, but also felt a strong connection to England, especially London, where he had grown up. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003. Although he had previously been vocally critical of the British monarchy, and was reluctant to accept the award, he later said that meeting the queen had been "like falling in love".


The Girl Who Lived in the Tree (Autumn/Winter 2008) is the thirty-second collection McQueen made for his eponymous fashion house. The collection was presented through the narrative of a fairy tale about a feral girl who lived in a tree before falling in love with a prince and descending to become a princess. According to McQueen, this story was inspired by an ancient elm tree in the garden of his country home in Farleigh, England, and the girl represented Queen Elizabeth II as a young woman. McQueen's biographer Dana Thomas said "it seems he had truly fallen in love" with the Queen. Author Judith Watt felt that the fairy tale story reflected McQueen's romantic innocence and "stemmed back to childhood days". Although it was one of his most nationalist collections, journalist Susannah Frankel felt it contained elements of "irony and pastiche", and McQueen joked that he had picked the royal theme for selfish reasons: "I thought, I'll do this thing on the Queen, and I'll get the knighthood. I'll become Sir Alexander McQueen."
The visual aesthetic of the collection was inspired by British culture and national symbols, particularly the British monarchy, as well as the clothing of India during the British Raj. McQueen cited the Duke of Wellington in the show notes, and there were military influences in the form of tailcoats and decorative frogging. He also drew heavily on the clothing he had seen in India with Leane, incorporating lush embroidery, jewelled headdresses, jutti (slippers resembling ballet flats), and the printed silk fabric used for saris. Primary fabrics included brocade, duchesse satin, silk, and velvet. Real semiprecious stones were used for embroidery and embellishment. The collection was unusually feminine compared to McQueen's usual work, which typically had a harder edge.
The designs were divided into two broad phases, which followed the girl's journey out of the tree. The clothes from the first half represented the girl's feral state, taking inspiration from punk fashion to create a style which McQueen called "punk princess". These looks were entirely black and white, with a slim silhouette accentuated by a cinched waistline. McQueen largely confined his ever-present tailored garments to this half of the show, although dresses and flounced ballerina skirts also featured here. Decorative embellishments in this phase included leather, crystals, lace, and silver printing. Grey-based tartan referenced McQueen's Scottish heritage.
The clothing from the second half was richly coloured, with luxurious materials and embellishments, representing the girl's transformation into a princess. The military elements were echoed here with regimental-style jackets and gold frogging. The skirts of the later dresses were exaggerated with crinolines, referencing the haute couture gowns Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies each designed for Elizabeth II in her youth. Footwear in this phase was similar to heavily-beaded shoes designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior in the 1950s.
Imagery of birds, wings, and feathers were a recurring theme in McQueen's work. In The Girl Who Lived in the Tree he focused on the peacock, India's national bird, which is culturally associated with beauty, grace, and love. He asked Irish milliner Philip Treacy to create a peacock headpiece for the collection; as usual his creative brief was simple and gave wide latitude for interpretation. Treacy used driftwood to build the bird's body and sea fan coral for its tail; he recalled McQueen being "speechless" when he saw it.


The runway show was staged on the evening of 29 February 2008 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. It was the final show of the day. The invitation card featured an etching of a tree on gold-coloured paper on the outside, and on the inside, an image of a girl whose hair was mixed with tree branches. McQueen personally invited Bobby Hillson to the show as a gesture of gratitude for her mentorship. On the same day of the show, McQueen announced that his label was finally making a profit.
Tabitha Simmons took care of overall styling, Paul Hanlon handled hair, and Peter Philips styled make-up. Gainsbury & Whiting oversaw production. Joseph Bennett, who had designed all of McQueen's runways since No. 13 (Spring/Summer 1999), returned for set design.
The soundtrack opened with orchestral versions of the Nirvana songs "Come as You Are" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The second phase transitioned into classical music by Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


The round stage was dressed in black with a black backdrop, with a large artificial tree in the centre wrapped in dark grey silk, which McQueen said was "for a feeling of protection". The fabric extended from the base of the tree to cover the entire stage. The wrapping was inspired by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who were known for wrapping buildings and landmarks in fabric for their large-scale, site-specific art installations.
Forty-two looks were presented in two phases. Looks 1 to 23 were entirely black and white, representing the girl in her feral state. During this phase, the tree in the centre was illuminated blue. Models' hair was aggressively backcombed and puffed out sideways from their heads, and their eyebrows were dark and strongly defined. Otherwise, make-up used a nude palette. Dresses tended toward what Thomas called a "Victorian gothic" look. There were several tailored ensembles featuring frock coats and trousers, which author Judith Watt found reminiscent of dandies from the British Regency era. The dark aesthetic reminded author Katherine Gleason of the main character in the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands.
Following Look 23, the lights went down, except on the tree. The stage was briefly empty while the lighting on the tree transitioned to yellow, indicating the start of the second phase. Looks 24 to 42 were richly coloured, with luxurious materials and embellishments, representing the girl's transition into royalty. Silhouettes here resembled the 1950s New Look, with tight waists and exaggerated skirts. Models were styled with antique gem-encrusted necklaces, headpieces, and earrings lent by the New York branch of The Gem Palace of Jaipur, India, a long-standing high-end jewellery atelier. The shoes in this phase were embellished ballet flats, an unusual style for a high fashion runway show. The hair and make-up were more elegant, although with a slight "punk" edge – chignons were placed at the top of the head rather than the nape of the neck, and had hair sticking out at the top, for example. Gold-toned eyeshadow and highlighter matched the decadence of the jewellery and clothing.


Look 10 was a black dress styled with Treacy's peacock headpiece. Look 20, sometimes referred to as the "snowflake dress," was a black mid-length dress with ballerina skirt, fitted with an overlay of black leather laser-cut into snowflakes, set on a background of white silk. Look 22 was a full-skirted dress in black with a white print of a tree. Look 23, the "peacock dress," was similarly full-skirted, in white with a pair of black lace peacocks facing one another on the front and the back. Gleason felt their positioning indicated "courtship and romance".
Raquel Zimmermann wore Look 28, a cropped jacket and close-fitting bodysuit; she explained to interviewers that her masculine outfit represented the prince. Look 29 features a dress with a print of a young Queen Elizabeth II combined with the Union Jack. Curator Andrew Bolton suggested this was a reference to the collage t-shirts which Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren produced for punk band the Sex Pistols in the 1980s; these featured similar imagery of British national symbols. Looks 34 and 35 had full skirts covered in dyed feathers. Look 39, a dress with a red satin jacket sculpted to resemble rose petals, has been described as one of McQueen's "most structurally complex rose-themed garments". The final ensemble, Look 42, comprised a red satin coat worn over a bejewelled gown in ivory silk, accessorised with an egg-shaped purse in red leather that McQueen termed the "Empire" bag. The bag was decorated with gilt, copper alloy, and Swarovski crystals, and may have been inspired by the jewelled Fabergé eggs made for the Russian imperial family in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kristin Knox called the entire ensemble "one of the most iconic dresses" of the collection.


Critical response to The Girl Who Lived in the Tree was positive. Katherine Gleason reported that most critics saw the show as "a triumph". It was the third-most-viewed collection on Style.com that season. Several reviewers found that the decadence and historicism of The Girl Who Lived in the Tree stood out in a relatively sedate and minimalist Paris Fashion Week. Cathy Horyn for The New York Times and Derick Chetty at the Toronto Star each felt the show was a complete success, artistically. Many critics felt that the clothing was both beautiful and commercially viable. Suzy Menkes for International Herald Tribune disagreed with this consensus, saying there was little wearable clothing in the collection, but felt everything was so attractive that "it hardly seemed relevant". Jeanne Beker of The National Post and Joelle Diderich identified the peacock dress as a favourite.
Several reviewers compared the collection positively to McQueen's previous work, even calling it his best. Lisa Armstrong of The Times and Robin Givhan of The Washington Post favourably noted the absence of McQueen's usual aggression; Givhan in particular was pleased that he had avoided personal clichés like face masks and extreme heels. Susannah Frankel of The Independent wrote that the use of flats instead of heels had allowed the models to look "regal rather than rapacious". Sarah Mower for Vogue felt McQueen had overcome his "confining, uptight carapace" to produce work that had a "new sense of lightness and femininity". A staff writer at Women's Wear Daily concurred, writing that McQueen had "expressed in fashion a newfound sense of joy" with the collection. Frankel felt that the collection was aimed at a younger audience than McQueen's last few collections, which she saw as a positive: the intended wearer was "wild at heart and all the more powerful for it".
Critics complimented McQueen's cutting and tailoring skills, particularly in the first phase. Horyn wrote that "McQueen approaches every cut, every detail and choice with the precision of a military campaign". In her Los Angeles Times review, Booth Moore cited "an amazing hourglass shaped jacket with slightly padded hips in black leather with the look of brocade" as an example of McQueen's tailoring ability. Stephen Todd of The Australian highlighted a pair of "trousers cut so tight they looked some kind of elegant instrument of torture". Writing in The Irish Times, Deirdre McQuillan identified the silhouettes created by historicist corsetry as "a salute to empire".
Many reviewers commented on the British Raj inspiration. Several highlighted the extravagant haute couture detailing in the second phase. Armstrong called it "Jane Austen meets Raj" and favourably contrasted the historicist style with the modernist clothing other designers had produced that season. Vanessa Friedman of the Financial Times called it "fit for the Royal Ballet if the production was, say, The Queen Goes to India for the Last Days of the Raj". Horyn found herself impressed by McQueen's ability to communicate British history as "heroic, violent, [and] grand" without resorting to strictly historical clothing. Guy Trebay of The New York Times was more critical, calling the overall aesthetic "Raj Barbie, a creature from a music-hall pantomime". He criticised the use of corsetry, saying it hinted at a "control fetish".
In retrospect, the collection is largely regarded as one of McQueen's best. Watt wrote that this collection proved McQueen "could create magnificent couture at his London atelier." Author Kristin Knox called it "of his most memorable collections of all time". In 2015, curator Kate Bethune recalled it as "one of McQueen's most lyrical and beautiful collections". Thomas wrote that it was a "breathtakingly beautiful collection" and compared it to the best work of the major post-World War II designers Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Jacques Fath. Another of his biographers, Andrew Wilson, was more critical, calling it "highly artificial...a sweetened fairy-tale mix of the Raj and Royalty".


Researcher Lisa Skogh noted that McQueen often incorporated concepts and objects which might have appeared in a cabinet of curiosities – collections of natural and historical objects that were the precursor to modern museums. She identified the coral peacock headpiece as one such item, comparing it to a figurine of the nymph Daphne from the 1570s in which Daphne's hair is represented by a large piece of coral.
The theatrical flair of McQueen's designs in The Girl Who Lived in the Tree may have been influenced by his time at costume supplier Berman's & Nathan's. Costume curator Keith Lodwick argued that his work on productions including the long-running musical Les Misérables was reflected in his tailored coats and jackets. He found the collection's waistcoats and decorative gold frogging evocative of the "revolutionary atmosphere of Les Misérables". Dance curator Jane Pritchard suggested that McQueen had been primed to absorb influences from dance costuming, possibly unconsciously. She compared the collection's embellished designs and ballet skirts from to the costumes of the George Balanchine ballet Jewels.
In an essay about McQueen's incorporation of Gothic elements into his work, literature professor Catherine Spooner observed that bodily transformation was a theme he often returned to, especially in his fairy tale narratives such as The Girl Who Lived in the Tree. She contrasted the girl's evolution to many of McQueen's transformed bodies, noting that the narrative in The Girl was a "sweeter version" compared to collections like The Hunger (Spring/Summer 1996) that evoked horror and disgust.
Writer Cassandra Atherton described using several McQueen collections, including The Girl Who Lived in the Tree, in a university-level creative writing course to teach a connection between poetry and fashion, particularly how one can inspire the other.


Daphne Guinness was photographed in the red robe from Look 42 for the August 2008 issue of Vanity Fair. She was also photographed wearing an ivory silk tulle empire waist gown of her own collection for Harper's Bazaar UK, a variant of one which had appeared on the runway in black as Look 7. Two dresses from the collection were photographed for Vogue: a greyscale tartan dresses from the first phase photographed by Venetia Scott, and the red feathered dress from Look 35 photographed by Emma Summerton.
Actress Salma Hayek wore a copy of the peacock dress from Look 23 to the 2015 opening gala for the V&A staging of Savage Beauty. Playwright James Phillips produced the 2015 semi-biographical play McQueen, which incorporates ideas from the narrative of The Girl Who Lived in the Tree. Women's Wear Daily felt that the Fall 2014 collection designed by Sarah Burton for the Alexander McQueen brand had a similar mood and narrative to The Girl Who Lived in the Tree, writing: "As in that triumphant tale, Burton's heroines journeyed from the shadows into the light". The sculptural rose jacket from Look 39 was an inspiration for Burton's later rose-inspired designs for the house.
In 2010, Jany Temime, the costume designer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, was accused of copying the peacock dress for a wedding dress which appears in the film. Belinda White of The Telegraph called the Harry Potter dress "a blatant rip-off" and wrote that Temime had altered "the crest on the bird's heads to make them more 'phoenixy'", but had left the rest of the design with "rather obvious peacock feathers". The Alexander McQueen brand did not comment on the accusations.


The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) owns copies of Look 7 and Look 25. The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum in Los Angeles owns a commissioned copy of Look 23, the black and white peacock dress; it is one of only three that exist, including the brand's own archived copy. It has appeared in the exhibitions Modern Love (Bendigo Art Gallery, 2013) and India and Beyond (Phoenix Art Museum, 2020). The National Gallery of Victoria owns copies of Look 20, the snowflake dress; and Look 40. Their copy of the snowflake dress had been heavily altered and had large stains, necessitating extensive fabric restoration to restore its original appearance.
McQueen's friend Daphne Guinness auctioned part of her fashion archive in 2012, including the ivory tulle dress she had worn for Harper's Bazaar UK. Pop star Lady Gaga purchased this item for £85,250 (US$133,075); it was the highest amount paid at auction for a McQueen at that time. Fashion collector Jennifer Zuiker auctioned her McQueen collection in 2020, including one piece from The Girl Who Lived in the Tree. A black dress with neck ruffles, Look 5 on the runway, sold for a reported $4,375.
A number of looks from The Girl Who Lived in the Tree appeared in Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective exhibition of McQueen's designs shown in 2011 at the Met and in 2015 at Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A). They comprised a large portion of the exhibit's "Romantic Nationalism" section. Looks 24, 26, 27, 39, and 42 appeared in both. The peacock headdress was featured in the Cabinet of Curiosities. Look 35, a red ballet dress, was added for the 2015 staging. Look 29, the dress with photos of Queen Elizabeth II, appeared in the 2013 exhibition Punk: Chaos to Couture at the Met. Look 39, with its sculptural rose petal jacket, appeared in a 2019 exhibition called Roses at the Alexander McQueen Old Bond Street store. Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, an exhibition first staged at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2022, featured Look 7 from the runway show as well as several items from the retail collection: a black minidress with a similar tree pattern to Look 22, a cream minidress with embroidery of birds and branches, and a black blouse.


An emperor penguin named Happy Feet arrived at Peka Peka Beach in the Kāpiti Coast District of New Zealand's North Island in June 2011 after travelling about 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) from Antarctica. He is one of the northernmost emperor penguins ever recorded outside of captivity, and the second emperor penguin to be found in New Zealand. After arriving, he ingested sand on the beach, likely mistaking it for snow, and filled his proventriculus with it. He soon became lethargic, dehydrated and overheated and was transported to Wellington Zoo, where he was given a 50 per cent chance of survival. Most of the sand was removed, and he was kept at the zoo for 10 weeks to recover.
Happy Feet was released in the Southern Ocean on 4 September 2011, about 78 kilometres (48 mi) north of Campbell Island, at the 51st parallel. He was fitted with a satellite transmitter to track his location, but the device ceased transmission on 9 September, possibly due to the transmitter falling off him or the penguin being preyed upon.
Named after a 2006 animated film featuring emperor penguins, Happy Feet's arrival and recovery was reported on by more than 600 media outlets worldwide. The event raised the public's awareness of wildlife, and for some time received more media attention than New Zealand prime minister John Key. He was one of Time's runner-ups for the 2011 Animal of the Year. He was also the subject of a children's book written by Christine Wilton, who first sighted the penguin at the beach, and another children's book published by Penguin Books in late 2011.


Happy Feet was first sighted in the early afternoon of 20 June 2011 at Paraparaumu Beach, in the Kāpiti Coast District of New Zealand's North Island. A few hours later, he was seen again a few kilometres to the north at Peka Peka Beach by Christine Wilton, a Kāpiti resident walking her dog. The bird swam approximately 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) from Antarctica to reach New Zealand, arriving just a few kilometres south of the northernmost recorded sighting of an emperor penguin, which occurred in Argentina. The reason for his presence so far from his natural habitat is unknown; however, the veterinarian Lisa Argilla has speculated that he may have been unwell or carried off course by an ocean current. Another theory was that the penguin was wandering, a behaviour which ecologists believe to have evolved as a way to establish new colonies by chance, despite its high likelihood of resulting in death. His arrival marked only the second recorded instance of an emperor penguin in New Zealand, the first having been found in 1967 at Southland's Oreti Beach.
After the dog walker sighted Happy Feet at Peka Peka Beach, she notified the Department of Conservation (DOC) Waikanae office and a ranger subsequently inspected the bird, who initially appeared to be in good health. The penguin was first thought to be approximately three years old, but further analysis suggested that he was about 11 months old at the time of his arrival. The penguin had a height of about 1 metre (3 ft), and was determined to be male two weeks after his arrival, based on DNA testing of a feather sample. He was named "Happy Feet" by the woman who first observed him, after the 2006 film Happy Feet, which features emperor penguins.
As thousands of people viewed Happy Feet at the beach, concerns arose about the potential danger the public posed to the penguin. In response, the Kāpiti Coast District Council closed the beach to vehicles and posted security guards, and locals kept watch over the penguin 24 hours a day. A cordon was placed around Happy Feet and it was ensured that he had access to the sea at all times. DOC co-ordinated this protection effort due to the Wildlife Act 1953, which requires the department to protect self-introduced vagrant birds.
At the beach, Happy Feet ingested sand, probably mistaking it for snow, which emperor penguins naturally consume to hydrate and cool themselves. Experts initially chose not to intervene because they did not know whether the bird would regurgitate the sand on his own, and because he appeared to be in a good state of health. However, by the morning of 24 June, Happy Feet was lethargic, dehydrated, had difficulty swallowing and occasionally attempted to expel sand. He was also suffering from heat stress, as the air temperature of about 10 °C (50 °F) was warmer than that emperor penguins are accustomed to. Because of this, at noon on the same day, DOC and Te Papa museum staff placed Happy Feet into an ice-filled plastic tub and transported him to Wellington Zoo's animal hospital The Nest Te Kōhanga.


After Happy Feet arrived at the zoo, veterinarians anaesthetised him and took x-rays, revealing that his oesophagus and proventriculus (stomach) were full of sand. A stomach rupture was considered possible, and he was given a 50 per cent chance of survival. He was put on an intravenous drip due to dehydration, and had water pumped down his throat to flush out most of the sand from his oesophagus, but it still remained in his proventriculus. Overnight, Happy Feet excreted some sand, indicating that a portion had moved through his digestive system. To encourage him to expel the material, he was given oily foods and laxatives.
On 27 June, veterinarians flushed sand out of Happy Feet's proventriculus, using an endoscope to view the contents, a method also used in subsequent procedures. This was conducted in front of about 100 spectators, who observed through a window. The following day, about half of the sand was removed, and on 2 July, a fourth and final procedure was performed to flush out additional stomach contents. On the same day, x-rays taken to confirm that all the sand had been removed revealed small stones in the penguin's proventriculus. In total, about 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) of sand was removed.
At the zoo, Happy Feet's enclosure was kept at 8 °C (46 °F) and was fitted with a bed of ice to mimic his natural environment. The penguin was provided access to an outdoor saltwater pool, which he swam in when air temperatures were sufficiently low. He was in Wellington for 10 weeks.


During Happy Feet's recovery, an advisory committee, including experts from Wellington Zoo, DOC, Te Papa and Massey University, determined whether the penguin was to be released or kept in captivity. Arguments against release included the potential stress it could cause him, the likelihood that he would be unable to locate the colony he came from, and the risk of introducing disease to Antarctic colonies, as he might have contracted one during his journey to New Zealand. Releasing him in Antarctica would have been illegal without a permit under the Antarctic Treaty, which requires precautions to prevent the introduction of microorganisms, including viruses.
In contrast, economist Gareth Morgan offered to transport the penguin to Antarctica aboard a Russian icebreaker ship as part of the "Our Far South" expedition, which he had organised. The vessel was scheduled to travel to Scott Base in the Ross Sea in early 2012. Addressing concerns about disease transmission, John Cockrem, a penguin expert from Massey University, believed that if Happy Feet were released in sub-Antarctic waters and made his way to Antarctica independently, any disease would disappear naturally, although the journey could prove fatal.
Keeping him in captivity also posed challenges. New Zealand lacked the facilities to replicate the climatic conditions required for an emperor penguin. While suitable facilities existed in California—including SeaWorld San Diego, which offered to take the bird—transporting him there would likely cause him significant stress. Another concern was that New Zealand did not house any other emperor penguins; if, for example, he were moved to the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, he would be isolated. Some media outlets also suggested euthanising him or releasing him back on Peka Peka Beach.
On 29 June, the committee unanimously decided that once Happy Feet had recovered, he would be released into the Southern Ocean, where juvenile emperor penguins are typically found. Prior to his departure, a microchip transponder was inserted under the skin of his right thigh and a satellite transmitter was glued and fastened with cable ties to the feathers of his lower back, allowing his location to be tracked. The device was designed to detach during his next moult. On the day before he left the zoo, a "Haere Ra Happy Feet" farewell party was held, which was attended by more than 1,700 people.


Happy Feet left Wellington Zoo on 29 August aboard NIWA's research vessel Tangaroa, which was conducting a fisheries survey around Campbell Island. Over the next five days the ship travelled 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) south-southwest from Wellington, arriving on 4 September at the release point, about 78 kilometres (48 mi) north of the island. The penguin was released that morning at 10:30 am, via a makeshift slide at the stern of the ship. An alternative release method—placing him into the sea from a smaller boat—was ruled out due to rough sea conditions.


After Happy Feet left the ship, his location was tracked via the satellite transmitter, with data shared on a public website. It reported that within five days the penguin had covered 113 kilometres (70 mi), generally heading southeast, towards the Marie Byrd Land region of Antarctica. However, the transmitter signal was lost at 8 am New Zealand Standard Time on 9 September 2011, much earlier than expected, indicating that the device had not surfaced since then. The most likely explanations are that the transmitter had fallen off—possibly caused by the penguin pecking at it—or that the penguin had been preyed upon. On 13 September, Cockrem stated that it was "highly likely" that Happy Feet was still alive, as he had not travelled far enough south to encounter predators such as leopard seals, and believed that the tracker had simply fallen off. During a parliamentary question time in October 2011, Green MP Gareth Hughes asked the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Phil Heatley, whether a trawler might have killed Happy Feet. Heatley dismissed this possibility, stating that the tracker data indicated that the penguin had not approached any trawlers closely enough.
Before Morgan's "Our Far South" expedition began in early 2012, Morgan said the team would attempt to locate Happy Feet using the chip implanted in him. This would have involved approaching a colony and searching for the chip with a radio transmitter, but Happy Feet was heading towards the rarely visited Marie Byrd Land, where some colonies have never been visited.


More than $30,000 had been spent on Happy Feet by September 2011. While DOC did not disclose the costs relating to the penguin during his time at the beach, Wellington Zoo reported raising $29,000 by the time of his departure, covering the costs of his care and release. The zoo recorded a 50 per cent increase in visitors in the month of July 2011 compared to July 2010, which it attributed to both Happy Feet's presence and the opening of new exhibits.
Several businesses supported fundraising efforts. The snack manufacturer Bluebird Foods, which had long featured penguins in its advertising, contributed to the cause and estimated that it would raise about $20,000 before beginning its campaign. Morgan also launched a fundraising campaign to support the penguin's care, matching each dollar donated. Surplus funds from all fundraising efforts were directed to other initiatives, such as Places for Penguins, run by Wellington Zoo and Forest & Bird.
Happy Feet's recovery occurred during a period of public funding cuts to DOC. The department's expenditure on his rehabilitation contributed to the media coverage he received, which in turn helped raise public awareness of birds and wildlife in New Zealand. However, The Dominion Post suggested that the funds could have been more effectively used to restore a wetland or forest remnant, which would help several birds rather than just one. Kevin Hackwell of Forest & Bird stated that Wellington Zoo would have faced criticism regardless of whether it assisted Happy Feet.


Happy Feet's arrival at Peka Peka Beach received worldwide media coverage, with over 600 media outlets reporting on the story. He raised public awareness of wildlife, and for some time received more media attention than New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. The penguin received significantly more attention than the only other recorded emperor penguin to swim to New Zealand, who arrived in 1967.
In November 2011, a resin statue of Happy Feet was unveiled at the Coastlands Shopping Centre in Paraparaumu. It was later relocated to the nearby Coastlands Aquatic Centre, where it became the centre's mascot. Sarah Holleman, a Wellington Zoo veterinary nurse who helped care for the penguin, assisted in making the statue. That same year, Christine Wilton—who discovered the penguin on the beach and reported him to DOC—wrote a children's book about him, and Penguin Books also published a children's book about Happy Feet. In December 2011, Time magazine named Happy Feet as a runner-up Animal of the Year, behind Cairo, the dog who helped with the killing of Osama bin Laden.


Lieutenant-General Henry de Hinuber, (25 January 1767 – 2 December 1833) known in Hanover as Eduard Christoph Heinrich von Hinüber, was a Hanoverian army officer who commanded units of the King's German Legion (KGL) during the Napoleonic Wars. Initially serving in the Hanoverian Army, in 1782, he fought in the Second Anglo-Mysore War in India. He was present at the Siege of Cuddalore and remained in India until 1792. The French Revolutionary Wars began a year later and Hinuber served in the Flanders Campaign.
Hinuber was one of the first Hanoverians to offer his services to the British Army when Hanover was invaded in 1803. Given command of the 3rd Line Battalion of the KGL, he fought in the Hanover and Copenhagen Expeditions before commanding a brigade in a diversionary attack in the Bay of Naples in 1809. He was promoted to major-general in 1811 and given command of a brigade in Lord Wellington's Peninsular War army in 1813.
Hinuber commanded his brigade at the Battle of Nivelle in 1813 and then at the Siege of Bayonne the following year, when he led the response to the French counter-attack. At the start of the Hundred Days, Hinuber was in command of the 4th Division but, replaced by a more senior officer, he refused another command and missed the Battle of Waterloo. He joined the army of the new Kingdom of Hanover in 1816, commanding several infantry brigades, and was promoted to lieutenant-general in both British and Hanoverian service. In 1831, Hinuber received his last command, the 2nd Division of a corps of the German Federal Army. He died in Frankfurt two years later.


Eduard Christoph Heinrich von Hinüber was born on 25 January 1767 in London. Known to family and friends as Harry, he was the son of Hanoverians Carl Heinrich von Hinüber (1723–1792) and Margarethe Ludovica von Reiche (1736–1815). His elder brother was Georg Charlotte von Hinüber, and he had four other siblings. His father was the German tutor to George II's children. Hinüber, who was fluent in English, lived with his parents in London until he reached the age of 10 or 12, at which point he was sent to live with his uncle in Hanover so that he could receive German education. There his family was part of the bureaucratic elite and relatives such as Jobst Anton von Hinüber played an important part in the moulding of Hanoverian culture.


Hinüber joined the Hanoverian Army as a cadet in the Hanoverian Foot Guards in April 1781 and was commissioned as an ensign in the 15th Infantry Regiment on 1 July. George III ruled both Hanover and Britain, and so the regiment had been formed in May to go to India and reinforce the British Army in the Second Anglo-Mysore War. In fighting this, the Kingdom of Mysore was allied with France, which was at war with Britain in the Anglo-French War. The Hanoverians had contracts to serve in India for seven years. The regiment underwent a seven-month period of training in Hanover and then from October in England. Hinüber was promoted to lieutenant on 27 November. The 15th left for Madras in March 1782, arriving in September.


Hinüber was part of an Anglo-Indian army which attacked the French-held city of Cuddalore on 13 July 1783. In a bloody engagement the British failed to break through the French defences. A quarter of the Hanoverians became casualties, including Hinüber who was wounded in action. The allied force occupied the abandoned French outposts around the city and instead began to besiege Cuddalore. Disease was rife in the camps of both the defenders and attackers, and the siege was still ongoing in July when news of the Treaty of Paris ending the Anglo-French War reached it. The Hanoverians were kept on in India afterwards, some moving into Mysore to continue the Second Anglo-Mysore War, reinforcing Mangalore and attacking Cannanore. Conflict with Mysore ended in March 1784. By August 1785 the Hanoverians were serving as the garrison at Arcot, where they stayed until being transferred to Madras in 1787.
While in India, the regiment was renumbered as the 14th Infantry Regiment and Hinüber was promoted to captain on 6 April 1788. The seven-year contracts of the Hanoverians began to end in the following year, but when the Third Anglo-Mysore War began it was requested that some stay on in India. The troops were given the choice of returning to Europe or staying on for another year. Hinüber opted for the latter, finally departing in July 1792. The Hanoverians had taken high losses through battle and disease, only half surviving. Hinüber was one of the last Hanoverians to leave the sub-continent.


Upon returning from India, Hinüber's regiment was reformed as the 14th Light Infantry Regiment. The French Revolutionary Wars began in February 1793, and for the first two years of the conflict Hinüber and his regiment were stationed in the Netherlands. Fighting the Flanders Campaign, the regiment was seconded to serve with the British Army on 22 January 1794, formed in two battalions. In April the regiment was sent to join the garrison of Menin, which was preparing to be besieged by the French. On 29 April the 1,800-strong garrison escaped a besieging French army of 14,000 men, suffering heavy casualties as it fought through to Roeselare.
The regiment subsequently formed part of the Northern covering column during the defeat at the Battle of Tourcoing between 17 and 18 May. By 15 August the two battalions of the regiment had separated, one garrisoning Sas van Gent and Hulst, and the other defending Sluis. The latter battalion became prisoners of war on 25 August when the port was captured. The campaign over, the last units of the British Army sailed from the continent on 1 June 1795. The Hanoverians returned to their native country, garrisoning barracks and settling to recruit themselves back to full strength.
Hinüber was promoted to major on 26 October 1798, joining the 6th Infantry Regiment. The Hanoverian Army served in relative peace until the Napoleonic Wars began in 1803; France successfully invaded Hanover, occupying the capital on 4 June. The Hanoverian Army retreated into Saxe-Lauenburg but quickly surrendered. Under the Convention of Artlenburg on 5 July the army was disbanded, ending Hinüber's service.


Hinüber was one of the first Hanoverian officers to travel to Britain and offer their military services there, arriving at Harwich on about 31 July. George III formed the King's German Legion (KGL) as a unit for displaced Hanoverians, and the officers were given temporary ranks in the British Army. In British service Hinüber chose to go by the name of Henry de Hinuber, but was also recorded as Heinrich von Hinüber. In early August he was stationed at Plymouth organising German arrivals, as well as recruiting Portuguese, Danish, Austrian, and Norwegian prisoners of war from the prison hulks there.
The initial patent for the KGL required it to reach 400 men within three months. Working closely with a fellow Hanoverian, Friedrich von der Decken, Hinuber initially expressed doubts to him that they would be able to meet the 400-man requirement. Hinuber championed the recruitment from prison hulks to bolster their numbers. By 3 October the regiment had reached a complement of 450. The KGL expanded quickly as the month went on, and an officer of Hinuber's seniority was no longer needed to chivvy recruitment at Plymouth. On 13 October he was transferred to command the new regimental depot, situated on the Isle of Wight, with about 1,000 men under his command. Initial expectation had been to form one light infantry battalion from the men at the depot but, when more recruits arrived than expected, the KGL expanded with artillery and cavalry as well. Soldiers who had previously served in either of these branches were taken away from Hinuber's main cadre, leaving the remainder there to form the 1st and 2nd Line Battalions.
Hinuber joined the newly formed 1st Battalion, and was given the British rank of major on 17 November. The KGL continued recruitment on the European mainland through this period, with a headquarters at Husum from where Germans could travel to Heligoland before reaching Britain. In April 1804 Hinuber was given command of this system, travelling to Husum to help raise the 3rd Line Battalion which was officially formed in May. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 16 June, commanding the new battalion, and relinquished his recruiting duties on 21 September.


Hinuber was promoted to colonel on 9 July 1805 and in November led his battalion in the Hanover Expedition, an attempt to liberate the Electorate. The force began to besiege Hamelin, but on 2 December the allied Austro-Russian army was defeated at the Battle of Austerlitz, forcing the withdrawal of the expedition.
The KGL returned to Britain in February 1806 and Hinuber's was one of several battalions that moved on to garrisons in Ireland. In June 1807 the 3rd was part of two KGL divisions sent in an army to Swedish Pomerania to assist the Russians. Landing on Rügen in early July, it was withdrawn from mainland Europe again when Russia brokered a peace with France in the Treaties of Tilsit later in the month. The battalion then joined another expedition, this time to Copenhagen. The KGL led the initial assault on 24 August as a prelude to the bombardment of the city which began on 2 September. Copenhagen surrendered five days later. The force returned to Britain in October. In late December Hinuber's battalion was one of four from the KGL sent to Lisbon. Upset by storms in the Bay of Biscay, the British were not able to arrive before the French took control of the city. The force was moved to serve as part of the garrison on Sicily, arriving after five months at sea on 24 March 1808.


Having remained in Sicily, in mid-1809 Hinuber was given command of a KGL brigade as part of a diversionary attack on islands in the Bay of Naples, intended to take pressure off their Austrian allies on the continent. The brigade contained his own battalion and the KGL's 4th Line Battalion. The force, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir John Stuart, sailed on 11 June and reached Ischia on 24 June. The neighbouring island Procida capitulated on 26 June and after a siege Ischia surrendered on 30 June. Offensive operations at Scylla went on from 13 June, but by 28 June the town had not been captured. As the Royal Navy was unable to guarantee the lines of supply for the army, Stuart chose to evacuate the two captured islands. The whole force had returned to Sicily by 26 July.
Hinuber continued on in the Mediterranean after the completion of his brigade command and was present in September 1810 during the defence against Marshal Joachim Murat's attempted invasion of Sicily. On 4 June 1811 Hinuber was promoted to major-general and given a position on the military staff in Sicily. Having held only temporary rank, Hinuber was granted permanent rank as a British major-general on 18 August of the following year; this was a reward for all KGL officers after the success of the Legion cavalry at the Battle of Garcia Hernandez on 23 July. Hinuber continued as colonel of the regiment, or colonel commandant, of the 3rd Line Battalion for the rest of its existence.


Hinuber served in Sicily until 30 October 1813 when he joined the army of Field Marshal Lord Wellington in the Peninsular War. He had been given command of the KGL brigade serving as part of the 1st Division on 25 June but, as he was still serving in Sicily, Colonel Colin Halkett had acted in his stead. Hinuber's new command was the largest brigade in Wellington's army, totalling five KGL battalions with 3,000 men between them. It contained the 1st and 2nd Light Battalions and the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Line Battalions. He subsequently led his brigade at the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November, participating in diversionary attacks on the fortified river.


In the subsequent advance on Bayonne, the KGL was employed during the Battle of the Nive in attacking the French outpost at Anglet on 9 December. Fighting ended when Hinuber's two light battalions turned the French flank and forced them to retreat into Bayonne.
Hinuber was respected as a competent commander, but his relationship with Wellington was difficult. The Siege of Bayonne began the following year, and on 27 February the suburb of St. Etienne was stormed by a force including Hinuber's brigade to complete the encirclement of the city. Having not resisted the advance before this, the French strongly defended St. Etienne. In a battle lasting most of the day, the British fought through the suburb street by street, eventually forcing the French to retire.
The brigade had over 300 casualties in the fighting including Hinuber, who was wounded. Despite the part played by the brigade, Hinuber's commanding officer Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope downplayed its role, refusing to name any of the units involved. Wellington's dispatch on the battle was similarly muted on the KGL's performance.
Annoyed by Hope's conduct, Hinuber wrote to the colonel-in-chief of the KGL Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, to complain. Adolphus replied to Hinuber that he expressed "to all the officers and men, my public approbation of their conduct, and the satisfaction which I feel in being at the head of such a corps". Nonetheless, Hinuber also wrote to Major-General Edward Pakenham, Wellington's adjutant general:


...the silence of [Wellington] in this instance cannot be attributed to casual omission, but must be founded on some particular reason, and the only one which we can at all guess at – however painful to our feelings – is that from some circumstance unknown to us, we have incurred his lordship's displeasure, and that laboring under such, we must necessarily be precluded from the honours which a public notice of our services, would otherwise have bestowed upon us.
Wellington sent a terse reply to Hinuber through Pakenham on the matter, the latter reporting to Hinuber that:


...am desired to observe that [Wellington] has ever had the pleasure in being satisfied with the conduct of the legion...I am in no way authorized to enter into further explanation on the subject to which your communication relates, but I should recommend you to subdue any anxiety that may have risen...


In the night of 13 April two French deserters from Bayonne came to Major-General Andrew Hay, who was commanding the piquets, to warn him of the French plan to make an attack on the Anglo-Spanish besieging force. Hay could not speak French so had them speak to Hinuber, who translated the report. Hay acknowledged this but made no changes to his defences, while Hinuber made Hope aware of the news and prepared his men for action. Before dawn on 14 April the French attacked with 3,000 men, far more than Hay had expected. The sortie broke through the British piquets and recaptured St. Etienne. Hinuber, acting without orders, brought his battalions forward from the Adour River with two Portuguese units and led the counter-attack at St. Etienne.
Rallying the surviving members of the piquet forces around the St. Etienne church, Hinuber pushed the French column attacking it back out of the suburb. With another brigade also counter-attacking, soon afterwards the French were ordered to withdraw back into Bayonne. The engagement ended when a truce was organised to allow for the collection of the wounded and dead.
The KGL had 189 casualties including Hinuber, who received a severe contusion. Hay was killed in the attack and Hope was captured along with his staff. The nineteenth-century military historian Sir William Napier noted that "...the readiness and gallantry with which General Hinuber and his Germans retook St. Etienne saved the allies from a very terrible disaster".


Bayonne surrendered on 28 April upon receiving the official order from Paris to do so, confirming Napoleon's abdication. A Subsidiary Army was afterwards formed to continue on in mainland Europe, and Hinuber was given command of the KGL Division within it, stationed mostly at Tournai and Mons. This made him the commander of all KGL infantry in the Netherlands, with six line battalions and two light battalions. The KGL was kept separate from the other British Army units serving in the Low Countries, in expectation that it would soon be disbanded and incorporated into a new Hanoverian Army.
Hinuber was rewarded for his services during the war, being appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815, and in the same year becoming a Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order. He was also awarded the Army Gold Medal with a clasp for his service at the Battle of Nivelle.


Napoleon escaped from his confinement on Elba in March 1815, restarting the conflict, and Wellington returned to the continent to form a new Anglo-Allied Army. Hinuber's KGL Division was re-formed into two brigades and split between the 2nd and 3rd Divisions to ensure that the newly arrived British units received a core of experienced soldiers. Hinuber himself was given command of the 4th Division on 11 April. He was, however, a relatively junior major-general and on 28 April he was replaced in command by Major-General Sir Charles Colville, who held local rank as a lieutenant-general.
Frustrated by the loss of his division, Hinuber continued his tense relationship with Wellington by arguing that as he had originally been given command of all the KGL infantry in the country by Adolphus, he should continue in that specific appointment. Wellington wrote to the Military Secretary, Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, on 2 May requesting clarification as to whether he was required to give Hinuber command of a new division made up of all the KGL in the army. Torrens wrote back on 5 May that:


...though [Adolphus] puts a very high value on [Hinuber's] services, he could not consider himself justified in authorising that the Legion should be kept together in order that he should command them...[Wellington] will be pleased to accept the resignation of his Staff appointment.
Hinuber did as suggested, refusing an offer to instead take command of a KGL brigade, and resigned his position in Wellington's army on 9 May. He travelled initially into Hanover before returning to England. Hinuber thus missed the Hundred Days campaign which culminated in the Battle of Waterloo, but was still listed as one of the recipients of the thanks of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the victory. The military historians Ron McGuigan and Robert Burnham argue that if Hinuber had stayed with the army through the campaign, the high level of casualties amongst the generals would have made him a divisional commander anyway.


With Napoleon defeated for a final time, the KGL was disbanded on 24 February 1816 and Hinuber placed on British Army half-pay. He chose to join the newly re-created Hanoverian Army of the Kingdom of Hanover, which recognised the British Army ranks of any ex-KGL officers who joined. Hinuber began his service as a major-general early in the year, but with seniority backdated to 4 June 1811, when he was promoted in British service.
Hinuber was appointed colonel of the regiment to the 5th Hanoverian Infantry Regiment on 1 March, a position he would hold until his death. His first command in the new Hanoverian Army was the 3rd Hanoverian Infantry Brigade. While in this position he was promoted to lieutenant-general on 17 April 1818.
Hanover was part of the German Confederation, centrally organised by the Federal Convention. In the same month as his promotion, Hinuber was appointed to serve on the new Militärcomité, or Military Committee, set up by the Convention. The committee comprised twelve military attachés from different German states, all general officers of considerable military experience. It was expected to assist the Federal Convention on technical military matters relating to the creation of the German Federal Army, but had no direct power itself. The historian Hellmut Seier describes Hinuber as one of the committee's most influential generals. The Militärcomité was tasked to create the Federal War Constitution to codify the new army and was dissolved after this was completed on 12 October.
The Federal Convention took some of the members of the committee to form a permanent Bundesmilitärkommission, or Military Commission, on 15 March 1819. Hinuber was one of six kept on in the new entity. The commission was tasked with providing military advice to the Federal Convention, and also supervised the functioning, upkeep, and equipping of federal military fortifications. The representatives mostly used their positions to instead champion their own nation's military interests within the Confederation. Hinuber continued in command of the 3rd alongside this until 1 April 1820, when he was transferred to the command of the 2nd Hanoverian Infantry Brigade.
While on British half pay, Hinuber was also promoted to lieutenant-general on 12 August 1819. He continued to be included in the Army List, but was withheld any pay or further promotion. He travelled to Luxembourg alongside Lieutenant-General Ludwig von Wolzogen in March 1826 where they took formal possession of the Fortress of Luxembourg on behalf of the German Confederation. Continuing in Hanoverian service, he retired from the British Army in the following year. On 18 February 1831 Hinuber was given command of the 2nd Division of the German Federal Army's X Army Corps. Simultaneously he represented his corps at the Federal Convention, situated in Frankfurt. He died there from an inflammation of the lungs, possibly caused by an ulcer and described as mastitis, on 2 December 1833.


Hinuber married Sophie Marie Lucie Eleonore Fahle (1787–1868) in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 7 August 1815. Fahle was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Georg Wilhelm Fahle, a corporal in the KGL, and the sister of Wilhelm Fahle, a KGL sergeant. Together the couple had five children, the first of whom was pre-marital. Their children included:


Harriet von Hinüber (13 April 1813 – 9 October 1875), married Major Friedrich von Oeynhausen in 1839.
Major Heinrich William Hinüber (30 May 1816 – 5 April 1849), Imperial Austrian Army hussar officer.
Lieutenant Eduard Hinüber (24 December 1817 – 28 December 1880), Hanoverian Army officer.