Background
Richard Hill was born c. 1673 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. He was the son of Richard Hill, a sea captain who in 1673 received a grant of land in Maryland from Lord Baltimore, and Milcah Hill.
Richard Hill was born c. 1673 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. He was the son of Richard Hill, a sea captain who in 1673 received a grant of land in Maryland from Lord Baltimore, and Milcah Hill.
Hill settled in Philadelphia about 1700. Soon becoming active in the political life of that colony, he was appointed a member of the Provincial Council in 1703; in 1705 he was elected to the Assembly, and was reelected the following year. He was chosen mayor of Philadelphia in 1710, and in 1711 an associate justice of the provincial supreme court, in which office he continued until his death. He was again elected mayor of Philadelphia in 1715, 1716, and 1717, and between the years 1715 and 1724 he was a justice of the court of common pleas in Pennsylvania.
He was selected by the Provincial Council. In 1721 he was a member of the commission which placated the Indians at a conference held at Conestoga, Pennsylvania, and in 1722 he was sent to Albany, New York, on the commission to treat with the Five Nations, whose chiefs were assembled there. He was permanently a member of the Supreme Council's commission on Proprietary Lands, and in 1713 was one of those who went to confer with Lord Baltimore's representatives regarding the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, a dispute that was not ended for half a century.
A story exhibiting Hill's courage and spirit is given by Robert Proud in his History of Pennsylvania. It had been decided by John Evans, the new lieutenant-governor of the Province, that for the protection of the colony some regiments of militia should be raised--a proposition not kindly received by the Quakers. Evans carried his point, erected a fort at New Castle, and ordered all ships to stop and pay toll. This regulation met with great opposition, and Hill, who had a sloop ready laden to proceed to Barbados (June 1706), decided to defy it. He boarded his vessel and ordered the captain not to stop at the fort. Even when the guns of the fort fired upon the little sloop, Hill had it keep on its course; and when the commander of the fort overtook the vessel, Hill made him prisoner and carried him to Salem, New Jersey, for the case to be decided by the Admiral of the Delaware, Lord Cornbury, who ordered the vessel to continue her voyage and reprimanded the commander of the fort.
Hill died in Philadelphia and was buried there on September 5, 1729.
Hill was a Quacker.
Hill was always a dependable and energetic man.
In 1700 Hill married Hannah, the widow of John Delaval and daughter of Thomas Lloyd, deputy governor of Pennsylvania.