HILL, John I

Hill was born in 1401 as the elder of two surviving children of the prominent west-country landowner and MP Robert Hill of Spaxton. Nothing is known of his early life and upbringing, but he was of age when his father died and on 5 Nov. 1423 had seisin of his extensive estates. These stretched across four counties and included the manors of Spaxton, Houndstone, Kingston Pitney, Yeovil, and eight others in Somerset, Kings Tamerton, Hemborough (in Dittisham), Heath St. Mary and Halscombe in Devon, Halton Barton and Deviock in Cornwall and Westcourt (in Inkpen) in Berkshire.4 CFR, xv. 68-69; CCR, 1422-9, pp. 100-1; The Commons 1386-1421, iii. 374. At the time of his own death these estates were valued at over £150 p.a., although they were probably worth rather more.5 In the first quarter of the 15th century the manor of Halton, said to be worth 50 marks p.a., regularly returned between £40 and £60 in cash revenues alone: SC6/822/15-22. Hill further augmented his prospects by his marriage to Cecily, eldest daughter of John Stourton, who would eventually inherit from her father six Somerset manors, including Radstock and East Lydford, as well as other lands in the shire which in 1435 were said to be worth over £38 p.a. As John Stourton was still alive, the couple in the first instance had to be content with more limited holdings that had descended to Cecily from her mother, Joan Banaster. Even the acquisition of this property presented some difficulty, and by the spring of 1425 the Hills were in dispute with the cathedral chapter of Wells over a tenement in that city, which ultimately ended in a victory for the dean and canons.6 C139/71/36; JUST1/1540, rot. 32.

Hill also had extensive connexions among the landed classes of Somerset. His aunt Margaret was the wife of William, Lord Harington, whose daughter Elizabeth became the wife of William, son and heir apparent of Sir William, later Lord Bonville*,7 CP, vi. 320-1. while another aunt, Joan, married into no fewer than four different south-western gentry families, taking as her successive husbands Sir John Malet, Simon Michel, John Luttrell† of Carampton and William Cornu. Another relation of local importance who was related to the Malets and Luttrells was Sir Thomas Stawell†, who had been a close friend and executor of Hill’s father.8 Some Som. Manors (Som. Rec. Soc. extra ser. 1931), 129; The Commons 1386-1421, iii. 660; iv. 471. Hill maintained these contacts and in the 1430s can be found attesting charters for Stawell and the Malets, and in association with the Michels.9 CCR, 1429-35, pp. 67, 232, 341.

Many of the events of Hill’s short life are difficult to distinguish from those of several contemporary namesakes, but it was probably he who attested the Devon elections of 1423. The focus of his activities thereafter shifted to Somerset, where he was present at the elections of 1429 and for which shire he was returned to Parliament two years later. Hill was again present at the Devon elections of 1432, but thereafter does not appear to have taken any further interest in parliamentary matters.10 C219/13/2; 14/1, 3. In any event, his career was suddenly cut short. He made his will on 21 Oct. 1434 and died on the same day, aged only 33, leaving his son and heir, John, a minor. Hill left ten marks for the building of a new spire to Spaxton church, where he wished to be buried in the chancel. Further bequests went to Wells cathedral, the friars minor of Bridgwater, the friars of Langley, and the nuns of Sopwell in Hertfordshire. Various items of clothing, plate and jewelry were distributed among his wife and children. These included three diamond rings, which he left to his wife Cecily, his eldest son John and his son Thomas. Cecily was to have control of the bequests to Hill’s sons until they reached a marriageable age. To Elizabeth, his daughter, Hill assigned a marriage portion of £20. As his executors he appointed his widow, his father-in-law John Stourton, the lawyer Edward Cullyford* (who had long served the family as an auditor),11 SC6/822/19, 20, 23. and Walter Portman* of Taunton. The will was proved at Stourton’s house at Preston Plucknett on 24 Jan. 1435.12 Reg. Chichele (Canterbury and York Soc. xlii), ii. 515-8. The keeping of Hill’s lands until the full age of the heir was granted to his widow and Portman on 13 July following.13 CFR, xvi. 242. Cecily, who received assignment of her dower in May 1435, was granted licence to marry Sir Thomas Kyriel* of Sarrecourt on the Isle of Thanet on 6 June 1437. She outlived Hill by 38 years, surviving until 1472.14 CCR, 1429-35, p. 332; CPR, 1436-41, p. 59; Hylle Cart. (Som. Rec. Soc. lxviii), p. xxvii. Hill’s two younger sons were provided for in the Church, while his daughter Elizabeth married John Cheyne of Pinhoe, younger brother of Edmund*.15 Reg. Bekynton, i (Som. Rec. Soc. xlix), no. 683; CIPM Hen. VII, ii. 64-66. The inqs. call the lady Alice, but John Hill’s will only mentions one da., Elizabeth. The heir himself went on to represent Taunton in the Parliament of 1447.