William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick

Who was William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick?

William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick, PC, FSA was a British peer, politician and diplomatist.

Born William Hill, he was the second son of Noel Hill, who was created first Baron Berwick in 1784, and his wife, Anna, a maternal granddaughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. He was educated at Rugby School and Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating M.A. in 1793.

From 1796–1812, he was Tory Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury and for Marlborough from 1814–18.

He held command, as major, of the Shrewsbury Yeomanry Cavalry from its inception in 1798 until 1804, when the command was handed to Charles Dallas, and of the Shropshire Militia as lieutenant-colonel from 1801 to 1814, although diplomatic duty abroad took him away from duty in this country.

Hill went to France as attaché to the British charge d'affaires in Paris in November 1801, and was on duty during the truce brought about by the Peace of Amiens. When war with Napoleon resumed he was briefly in captivity but escaped to England.