Edward Hill (abt. 1590 - abt. 1624)

Born about 1590 in England

Died about 1624 at about age 34 in Elizabeth City County, Virginia

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Biography

The Virginia Company voted a patent in November 1621 to Nathaniel Basse and Arthur Swayne (Swan), adventurers, and to their associates to transport one hundred persons to Virginia. By October 1622, Basse was in Virginia with his settlers. They located in the Warrascoyack area downstream from Bennett's Plantation. This settlement was named Basse's Choice and was populated by a small number of families. In the "Census of the Living" taken Feb. 16, 1623, the following are listed as living at Basse's Choyse: Richard Jones, William Julian and his wife, Sarah, John Hill, Edward Hill, Hannah Hill, Elizabeth Hill, William Hill, Thomas Hill, Frances Hill, and Adam Thorogood. The early plantations and settlements in Virginia resembled military camps. Individual colonists were under command as if in service. The environment was one of rigorous administration of justice, strict economic regulations imposed by the Virginia Company, and outright fear of Indian attack. These agricultural settlements went by different names. They were called "plantations" or "hundreds," and were given identifying names. These settlements were located on both sides of the James River in the vicinity of Jamestown. On these plantations the residents planted crops and built palisades and forts for their common defense. Over time, as these settlements grew, some particularly independent planters left more organized communities to start individual plantations in hitherto unsettled places. Edward Hill was living at Basse's Choice at the time of the Good Friday Massacre in 1623. He survived and escaped with William and Thomas Hill to Elizabeth City and is known to have held a land grant of one hundred acres there. He may have been wounded on that day, as he is listed as dying in Elizabeth City in May of 1624. The "Census of the Living" also lists as survivors his wife, Hannah (Jordan) Ashton, and their daughter, Elizabeth, the one mentioned in Thomas Spilman's Muster as "borne in Virginia." He was also survived by a son, Edward II (the first to settle at Shirley Hundred), a grandson, Colonel Edward Hill III, and a great-grandson, Colonel Edward Hill IV. All of the Edward Hills were Burgesses, Members of the Council, and held other offices in the Virginia colony. "Shirley," the home built by the fourth Edward Hill, still stands on the northern shore of the James River above Williamsburg. From Jim White: Edward Hill who married Hannah Boyle was the brother of Col. Robert Hill ... not his son. Robert and Edward had another brother, Hugh, the eldest of the three who also immigrated to Virginia. The various Muster Records for Jamestown validate Hugh, Robert, and Edward as brothers - NOT children of one another ... all three were the sons of George Hill of London, and his wife, Isabel Cross.

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