death_place death_date birth_place parents birth_date article_title education name occupation
richmond , surrey 11 june 1727 hodnet , shropshire rowland hill and margaret whitehall 23 march 1655 -lrb- baptized -rrb- richard hill of hawkstone
 shrewsbury school ; st john 's college , cambridge richard hill of hawkstone diplomatist , statesman , public servant
richard hill of hawkstone

the rev. the hon. sir richard hill of hawkstone hall , shropshire , was -lrb- baptised at hodnet , shropshire , 23 march 1655 and died unmarried at richmond , surrey , 11 june 1727 , aged 72 . -rrb-
he was known as ` the great hill ' , diplomatist , public servant and statesman , who accumulated great wealth through a series of profitable appointments and judicious dealings .
he was the second son of rowland hill -lrb- baptised 1623 ? -rrb-
of hawkstone and his wife , margaret whitehall of doddington , shropshire .
he was educated at shrewsbury school and admitted to st john 's college , cambridge -lrb- ba 1679 ; ma 1682 -rrb- , and was ordained deacon .
in 1675 , he worked as a tutor to the sons of richard boyle , 1st earl of burlington , and then to the children of laurence hyde , 1st earl of rochester .
through hyde , he became acquainted with richard jones , 1st earl of ranelagh , paymaster of the forces , by whom he was appointed deputy paymaster of william iii to the army in flanders during the war of the grand alliance , 1688 -- 96 .
in the 1690s and early 18th century he went on to hold several eminent positions .
he served as a diplomat during the war of the spanish succession , as envoy to maximilian ii emanuel , elector of bavaria in brussels , and to the duke of savoy in turin , whom he persuaded to join the grand alliance .
hill made the allies guarantors for the vaudois , a medieval heretic sect , later protestants , who had suffered centuries of persecution by the dukes of savoy , and they were guaranteed toleration , so that the vaudois pastors placed him ` at the head of our nehemiahs ' -lrb- diplomatic correspondence , 2.973 -rrb- .
in 1699 he was ambassador at the court of the hague .
hill returned to england to become a commissioner of the admiralty -lrb- 1702 -- 08 -rrb- .
he was appointed a lord of the treasury -lrb- 1699 -- 1702 -rrb- and counsellor to prince george of denmark , the prince consort of queen anne .
william iii ` did often declare that he had never employed two ministers of greater vigilance , capacity and virtue than yourself , my lord , and the reverend mr hill ' -lrb- according to a 1720 dedication to john robinson , bishop of london , who had been lord privy seal -rrb- .
he was given a final appointment to brussels , but he retired in 1710 due to ill-health , entering holy orders in the church of england .
he refused a bishopric in the hopes of taking that of ely , and became a fellow of eton college in 1714 .
he lived quietly as tenant at cleveland house , st james 's , and at trumpeters ' house at the old palace , richmond , where ` he was much resorted to by the most eminent persons of the time the royal family shewed him very particular regards ' -lrb- gilbert burnet , 4.318 -rrb- .
hill had inherited hawkstone in 1700 and reordered the mansion and park to his own designs .
with the fortune he made from his paymastership -lrb- subsequently augmented by loans , investments and mortgages -rrb- , he extended his estates at tern hall , atcham , near shrewsbury -lrb- today attingham park -rrb- , and at shenstone , staffordshire , and systematically purchased estates in many counties , including shropshire , staffordshire and warwickshire , thus adding to his already substantial inheritance with the aim of founding an enduring dynasty .
he secured the wealth and influence of the hills as one of the great families and landowners in 18th - to 19th-century shropshire , providing liberally for three nephews , especially his protégé rowland hill of hawkstone -lrb- 1705 -- 1783 -rrb- , who was given a baronetcy in his honour in 1727 and was later father of richard hill -lrb- 1732 -- 1808 -rrb- and rowland hill -lrb- 1744 -- 1833 -rrb- .
