Family and Education

b. 7 Aug. 1672, 1st s. of William Hill of Hillsborough by Eleanor, da. of Dr Michael Boyle, archbishop of Armagh and ld. chancellor of Ire.  m. 1690 (with £3,000), Anne, da. of Sir John Trevor*, 2s. 1da.  suc. fa. 1693.1

Offices Held

Gov. and custos co. Down ?1693–?d.; PC [I] 1694.2

MP [I] 1695–9.

Biography

Hill’s grandfather, Arthur† (d. 1663), served in the army fighting the Irish rebellion of the 1640s, firstly under the King’s colours and then for the Commonwealth and Protectorate. He even served in the Parliament of 1654 for an Irish constituency. Hill’s father served as governor of co. Down and was a member of the Irish privy council. However, he appears to have resided in England from the mid-1680s, being recorded in 1693 as not having been in Ireland for seven years. Hill’s relationship with his father appears to have been difficult: indeed his early marriage was undertaken without his father’s consent, although in his will Hill snr. forgave him for this. Consequently, the newly-weds resided with Speaker Trevor, who no doubt felt a double responsibility as Hill’s stepmother, Mary, was the daughter of Marcus Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon [I], a relation of Trevor’s. Given this cool relationship, it seems likely that Hill’s entry to Parliament owed much to his connexion with Trevor, especially as he was under-age at the time of his election. According to his fellow Member for Saltash, Narcissus Luttrell, Hill took his seat on 19 Nov. 1692. His name only appears on one parliamentary list, compiled by Grascome, in which he was classed as a placeman, apparently on account of his Irish governorship. He presumably inherited this latter office from his father, of whom John Verney* (Lord Fermanagh) reported on 27 Oct. 1693, ‘Mr Hill of Ireland died at Little Chelsea’, leaving an estate in Ireland worth £5,000 p.a. to his son. Only a few days previously Hill’s father had been one of three commissioners of the great seal appointed to act while the Irish lord chancellor, Sir Charles Porter*, was in England. No doubt as a consequence of Hill’s inheritance he was ordered on 27 Nov. 1694 to be sworn a member of the Irish privy council.3

By the time of the 1695 election Hill was a wealthy man. There is some evidence that he thought of contesting Saltash again. However, compared with Luttrell it appears that Hill had neglected his constituents, being criticized for not writing a weekly letter to the town. Indeed, the renewal of his interest at Saltash was much resented by the Carews, Lady Carew (the widow of Sir John, 3rd Bt.*) thinking Hill ‘very ungrateful to our family by whom he has been highly obliged’. Hill was, however, returned to the Irish parliament for Hillsborough and seems to have been considered for an Irish peerage in December 1697 when a series of creations was mooted to increase the government interest in the Irish upper house. Hill died in 1699. His widow married Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton [I], and his son, Trevor†, was created Viscount Hillsborough [I] in 1717.4

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Stuart Handley

Notes

• 1. Collins, Peerage, v. 98–103; PCC 187 Coker.
• 2. Collins, 102.
• 3. CSP Dom. 1693, pp. 362, 377, 400; PCC 187 Coker; BL, Verney mss mic. 636/46, John to Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Bt.†, 17 Nov. 1692; 636/47, same to same, 1 Nov. 1693; Luttrell Diary, 239.
• 4. Cornw. RO, Carew Pole mss CC/FF/1, Lady Mary Carew to John Triese, 15 Oct., 5 Nov. 1695; CSP Dom. 1694–5, p. 345; 1697, p. 529.