Sir James William Francis Hill (15 September 1899 – 6 January 1980) was a British solicitor and leading historian of
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
and
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
. He was the third
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
of the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...
. He also served as a
Councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
,
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
and
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Lincoln. The Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School in Bristol Drive, Lincoln was named in his honour.
Career
Sir Francis Hill was born in
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
and was educated at the Municipal Technical Day School (later City School), Monk's Road, Lincoln. He gained an open scholarship to
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, but first served at the end of the First World War in the
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
. He graduated from Cambridge with a
double first
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
and proceeded to MA in 1925. From 1926 he was a qualified solicitor and he became a senior partner of the solicitors firm Andrew and Company of Lincoln. Sir Francis enjoyed a long and successful career in the civic governance as a councillor and later
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
of the City Council 1932-1974 and he was Mayor of Lincoln in 1945/1946. He became a member of the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...
College Council in 1934 and he was Chancellor of Nottingham University from 1972 to 1978.
["Baker", (1992), 67]
Sir Francis was involved in municipal government both nationally and internationally. He was chairman of the Association of Municipal Corporations 1957–1966, president of the European Conference of Local Authorities 1966–1968, president of the International Union of Local Authorities 1967–1971, and a member of the Royal Commission on Local Government in England, 1966-1969 which produced the
Redcliffe-Maud report.
Publications and articles by Sir Francis Hill
*''Medieval Lincoln'', Cambridge University Press, 1948 xvii, 487 p. : ill., maps.
*''Tudor and Stuart Lincoln'', Cambridge University Press,
*''Georgian Lincoln'', Cambridge University Press 1966
*''Victorian Lincoln'', Cambridge University Press 1974.
*''Early Days of a Society'', Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol.1. pp 57–63
Bibliography
*Baker F.T (1992), ''Sir Francis Hill'' in C. Sturman, (ed.), ''Some historians of Lincolnshire'' (Occasional papers in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology,no. 9 -Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, Lincoln)
References
archiveshub.ac.uk, ''Sir Francis Hill''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Francis
1899 births
1980 deaths
People associated with the University of Nottingham
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Knights Bachelor
Lincolnshire Antiquary
Councillors in Lincolnshire
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Mayors of Lincoln, England