Joseph Hill (October 1625 – 5 November 1707) was an English academic and nonconformist clergyman, mostly in the Netherlands after 1662. He is known as a lexicographer.

Life

He was born at Bramley, near

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, in October 1625. His father, Joshua Hill (died 1636), was minister successively at Walmesley Chapel, Lancashire and Bramley Chapel, a nonconformist on wearing a

surplice A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to the kne ...

. Joseph Hill was admitted at St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1644, graduated B.A. earlier than usual, was elected fellow of

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, and proceeded M.A. in 1649. He was a successful tutor, was senior proctor 1658, and in 1660 kept the act for B.D. When he declined to conform to the

Act of Uniformity 1662 The Act of Uniformity 1662 (14 Car 2 c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Ch.2 c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public prayers, adm ...

, he lost his position. He went to London, and preached a while at

Allhallows Barking All Hallows-by-the-Tower, at one time dedicated jointly to All Hallows (All Saints) and the Virgin Mary and sometimes known as All Hallows Barking, is an ancient Anglican church on Byward Street in the City of London, overlooking the Tower of ...

. He travelled abroad in 1663, and entered

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

as a student 29 March 1654. He was elected (19 June 1667) to the pastorate of the Scottish church at

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. From 1668, a stipend was paid to him by the Provincial States. The Third Anglo–Dutch War of 1672-4 caused him to become a figure in politics. He wrote (November 1672) a political pamphlet, which he had difficulty in getting printed. In April 1673, it appeared, printed at his own expense, in Dutch at Amsterdam, and in English;''The Interest of these United Provinces, being a Defence of the Zeelanders Choice'', &c., Middleburg, 1673. he advocated the English alliance, and vindicated Charles II from suspicion of

popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

. On 19 August 1673, he was ordered by resolution of the States to quit Zeeland, with permission to return at the close of the war. In London, he went to Charles, who rewarded him for his pamphlet with a sinecure, and tried the offer of a bishopric if he conformed. On 13 January 1678, he became minister of the English presbyterian church on the Haringsvliet,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, and held this office until his death on 5 November 1707.

Works

His chief work was the expansion of Schrevelius's ''Greek-Latin Lexicon'', which he edited 1663, adding eight thousand words. The Latin-Greek portion was edited by J. Hutchinson. He wrote also on the ''Antiquities of Temples'', 1696, and ''Artificial Churches'', 1698; a sermon on ''Moderation'' in the

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into tw ...

morning exercise, 1677; and a funeral sermon for Mary Reeve, 1685.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Joseph 1625 births 1707 deaths Ejected English ministers of 1662 English lexicographers English male non-fiction writers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge