Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/417

 his friend Alderman Sir [q. v.], who married his niece Alice. He had previously given 200l. to St.Bartholomew's Hospital and 600l. to Christ's Hospital. Another will, dated 10 Dec. 1560 and proved 1 Feb. 1561-2, was executed as feoffee in trust of property in St. Lawrence Jewry parish, formerly belonging to Sir [q. v.], the income to be administered by the Mercers' Company for the benefit of the poor of the neighbouring parishes (Cal. of Husting Wills, ii. 677).

A portrait belongs to Lord Berwick; there is a lithographic print by Gauci. His arms are in a window of Mercers' Hall.



HILL, ROWLAND (1744–1833), preacher, sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill, first baronet, was born at his father's seat, Hawkstone Park, Shropshire, on 23 Aug. 1744. Sir (1732-1808) [q. v.] was his eldest brother. Rowland was educated at both Shrewsbury and Eton. When still young he received deep religious impressions through the conversations and letters of his brother Richard. In 1764 he entered St. John's College, Cambridge, as a pensioner, subsequently becoming a fellow-commoner. He read diligently, but his religious views and his earnest efforts to do good exposed him to much scorn. He visited prisoners and the sick; preached wherever opportunity offered in Cambridge and the adjoining villages, and was often insulted by mobs. In January 1769 he graduated B.A. with honours, and endeavoured to obtain orders, but was refused by six bishops in succession, owing to his irregular preaching, which he refused to discontinue. On 6 June 1773, however, he was ordained by Dr. Wills, bishop of Bath and Wells, to the curacy of Kingston, Somersetshire. Here he was most diligent in the discharge of parochial duty, while at the same time he continued to make extensive evangelistic tours. On applying for priest's orders to the Bishop of Carlisle, with letters dimissory from the Bishop of Bath and Wells, he was, at the instance of the Archbishop of York, refused on account of his irregularities. He continued to preach wherever he could find an audience, in churches, chapels, tabernacles, and the open air, often to immense congregations, and sometimes amid great interruption and violence. A chapel was built for him at Wotton, Gloucestershire, and here he officiated for a part of every year during his life. In 1783 Surrey Chapel, London, was erected for him, and became henceforward the usual scene of his labours. His earnest, eloquent, eccentric preaching attracted large congregations. Attached to the chapel were thirteen Sunday schools, with over three thousand children on their rolls. In 1810 he issued his 'Village Dialogues,' which ran rapidly through several editions. In all the great religious and philanthropic movements of the time Hill look a prominent part. He was the first chairman of the committee of the Religious Tract Society', and an active promoter of the interests of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the London Missionary Society. Vaccination found in him a warm advocate at a time when it was not generally popular. He published a tract on the subject in 1806, entitled 'Cow-pock Inoculation Vindicated and Recommended from matters of Fact,' and himself vaccinated thousands of persons. He continued to work busily to a very advanced age. He died 11 April 1833, and was buried beneath the pulpit of Surrey Chapel. In addition to the works above mentioned, he published a number of sermons and several hymns, some of which received finishing touches from Cowper's hand. He married, in 1773, Mary Tudway.



HILL, ROWLAND, first (1772–1842), general, second son and fourth of the sixteen children of John Hill, afterwards third baronet, of Hawkstone, Shropshire, by his wife Mary, daughter of Robert Chambre of Petton in the same county, was born at Prees Hall, near Hawkstone, on 11 Aug. 1772. He was nephew of the Rev. (1744-1833) [q. v.] At the age of seven he was sent to school at Ightfield, near his home, and was afterwards at private schools at Chester, kept by the Rev. Mr. Vanburgh and the Rev. Mr. Winfield. He was not at Rugby, as often asserted, the Rowland Hill on the school register at that period being a cousin, Rowland Alleyne Hill, who died in holy orders in 1844. Rowland Hill is described as a big, good-natured boy, chiefly remarkable for his love of gardening and pet animals. When he left school at Chester his friends proposed that he should enter the legal profession, but he chose the army, as also did four of his brothers: John, sometime an officer in the blues and 25th light dragoons,who died in 1814; Robert Chambre, colonel, knight, and C.B, who died in 1860; Clement, in the blues, who was his brother's aide-de-camp in the Peninsula and at Waterloo, and died a major-general (on the Madras