Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire Personal Computer, known as the Viscount Hillsborough from 1742 to 1751 and as the Earl of Hillsborough from 1751 to 1789, was a British politician of the Georgian era.
Background
Born at Fairford, Gloucestershire, Wills Hill was the son of Trevor Hill, 1st Viscount Hillsborough and Mary, daughter of Anthony Rowe. He succeeded his father as second Viscount Hillsborough in 1742 (as this was an Irish peerage he was able to continue to sit in the British House of Commons).
Career
Best known in North America as the Earl of Hillsborough, he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1768 to 1772, a critical period leading toward the American War of Independence. Hill, known retrospectively as Downshire, was returned to Parliament for Warwick in 1741, a seat he held until 1756. He was the same year appointed Lord Lieutenant of County Down and Custos Rotulorum of County Down.
In 1751 he was created Earl of Hillsborough in the Peerage of Ireland.
In 1754 he was made Comptroller of the Household, a post he held until 1756, and appointed a Privy Counsellor. In 1756 he was created Baron Harwich, of Harwich in the County of Essex, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which entitled him to a seat in the House of Lords.
Foreign nearly two years, between 1763 and 1765, he was President of the Board of Trade and Plantations under George Grenville, and after a brief period of retirement he filled the same position in 1766, and then that of joint Postmaster-General, under the Earl of Chatham. From 1768 to 1772 Hillsborough was Secretary of State for the Colonies and also president of the board of trade.
Both in and out of office he opposed all concessions to the American colonists, but he favoured the project for a union between England and Ireland.
On his retirement in 1772 he was created Earl of Hillsborough in the Peerage of Great Britain. In 1779 he served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department, remaining until 1782. He was the last person to serve in this position, because the Secretaries of State were reorganized.
In 1789, he was made Marquess of Downshire in the Irish peerage.
Lord Downshire married firstly Lady Margaretta, daughter of Robert Fitzgerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, in 1747.
Membership
Royal Society; 11th Parliament of Great Britain. 9th Parliament of Great Britain. 10th Parliament of Great Britain.