Hime was the son of
Albert Henry Hime of the
Royal Engineers, who was building
an important causeway in
Bermuda at the time of Charles's birth. After the completion of the causeway, Albert Hime and his family moved to the
Colony of Natal, where he served as
Premier of
Natal from 1899 to 1903. Charles Hime was educated in Natal at
Pietermaritzburg College and
Hilton College, where he captained the rugby union and cricket teams. After leaving school he became private secretary to the Chief Justice of Natal in 1888. He later worked his way up from third-class clerk in the Attorney-General's Office to first-class clerk in 1899. In 1904 he became secretary to the Minister of Justice. In 1908 he was appointed an assistant magistrate, serving in various parts of Natal. In 1921 he was appointed a magistrate, and was chief magistrate of
Pietermaritzburg when he retired in 1929. He did reasonably well with bat and ball in the matches Pietermaritzburg and Natal played against
the touring Lord Hawke's XI in January 1896, but was less successful when selected in the
South African team for the First Test shortly afterwards – although his eight runs made him the second-highest scorer in South Africa's second innings of 30. He
captained Natal in his final first-class match in 1905–06 against the touring
MCC and took his best figures of 5 for 18. After he retired from playing sport, Hime spent ten years as president of the Natal Amateur Athletics and Cycling Association. He was a life member of the Pietermaritzburg Child Welfare Society. Hime died in Pietermaritzburg in December 1940, aged 71. His wife died in 1979. ==See also==