John Hill (courtier)

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Major-General John "Jack" Hill (died 22 June 1735) was a British army officer and courtier during the reign of Queen Anne. While of no particular military ability, his family connections brought him promotion and office until the end of Anne's reign.

Early life

Jack, as he was known, was the youngest son of the merchant Francis Hill and his wife Elizabeth Jenyns, and hence the brother of

Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of Gloucester
. After Gloucester's death, he briefly returned to Prince George's household in 1700.

Military career

The Battle of Almansa in 1707. Hill commanded a regiment in the Allied Army. After heavy fighting he was taken prisoner.

The Duke of Marlborough obtained for Hill a captaincy in the Grenadier Guards in November 1702, and he was made adjutant general to the forces sent into Portugal in 1703. In May 1705, he was made colonel of the former Lord Stanhope's Regiment of Foot. This rapid rise owed little to military talent; while partly brought about through the patronage of Marlborough, it was increasingly due to the ascent of his sister Abigail, who was now displacing her cousin the Duchess in Anne's favour.

In 1706, he and his regiment took part in the expedition under

William Steuart's and Thomas Alnutt's
regiments. Hill's brigade attacked the French during the latter stages of the battle and allowed the remaining British forces to retreat in good order, but he and his regiment were captured by the French.

Hill was paroled and returned to England to reform his regiment, which was sent to the Netherlands in summer 1708 and took part in the siege of Mons in 1709. On 26 September 1709, Hill's regiment was sent to advance the siege lines against the town and had to fight off a sally in which it suffered 150 casualties, including Hill, who was wounded.

Rise under the Tories

By 1710, Hill's sister, Lady Masham, had supplanted her cousin in the Queen's affections and now joined

Whigs
in Parliament attempted to have Lady Masham removed from Court, an unsuccessful move which ultimately precipitated Marlborough's own political demise.

Hill, in the meantime, was returned as a

House of Commons
, although, as his one-time patroness, the Duchess of Marlborough sourly noted, he did trouble himself to vote once, when ill, to support Harley's attacks on Marlborough.

Expedition against Quebec

Main article: Quebec expedition (1711)

Well-connected with the

Harley Ministry, Hill's star continued to rise. When Henry St John in 1711 revived a plan for the capture of Quebec
, Hill was proposed as commander-in-chief to gain the Queen's favor. 5 000 troops under Hill's command, in thirty transports escorted by ten
Saint Lawrence River on 11 August 1711 owing to fogs and gales. Hill and Walker, after a Council of War, abandoned the enterprise without firing a shot and returned to England. Jonathan Swift
, a confidant of Hill, noted that Hill's friends privately blamed him for his irresolution and lack of leadership. Hill's Tory connections, however, allowed him to escape any check in his career arising from this disaster.

Further promotion

In June 1712, Hill became

Privy Council in November. Perhaps impelled by hopes of a never-offered peerage, he did not stand for election in 1713. In London, Hill was elected to the society of wits headed by Swift and St John, and was known for his great conviviality. He returned to Dunkirk in February 1714 as a commissioner to inspect the fortifications, but came back to England in August for the accession of George I
.

Later life

With the death of Anne and the accession of George I, Hill lost his offices, but retained his commission as major-general. He sold his colonelcy to Edward Montagu in July 1715 and retired. Both he and Lady Masham retained Tory sympathies in their later years, which Hill spent at his seat in Egham and his London house in Jermyn Street, where he died. He left his estate to his nephew Samuel Masham, 2nd Baron Masham.

References

  • Spain, Jonathan (2004). "Hill, John (d. 1735)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13280. Retrieved 10 February 2007. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel
1710–1713
With: Hugh Fortescue
 Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of John Hill's Regiment of Foot
1705–1715 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance
1712–1714 		Succeeded by
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