William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick, PC, FSA (21 October 1773 – 4 August 1842) was a British peer, politician and diplomatist. Cokayne et al., ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''); first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition re ...

'', volume II, p. 168. Born William Hill, he was the second son of Noel Hill, who was created first

Baron Berwick Baron Berwick, of Attingham Park in the County of Shropshire, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1784 for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, Noel Hill, who had earlier represented Shrewsbury (UK Parliament constituency), S ...

in 1784, and his wife, Anna, a maternal granddaughter of

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (13 April 1593 (New Style, N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English people, English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament of England, Parliament ...

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, graduating M.A. in 1793. He was

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

Member of Parliament for

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

from 1796 to 1812, when he retired on account of his absences abroad. In 1814 he replaced his brother-in-law Lord Ailesbury (who had inherited his father's earldom) as MP for

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

and kept the seat until the 1818 general election, although he spent little time in Parliament. 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 chargé d'affaires in Paris in November 1801, and was on duty during the truce brought about by the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

. When war with Napoleon resumed he was briefly in captivity but escaped to England. In 1805, Hill was appointed ambassador to

Ratisbon Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state. With m ...

(though the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

prevented him from taking up office), to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

, whose court was exiled by the war in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

in 1807 and at

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in 1814 following Napoleon's defeat, and to the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

at Naples in 1824. That same year he and his younger brother assumed the additional surname of Noel, from his grandfather, and was created a Privy Councillor. In 1822, he had rejected

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

's offer of the post of

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was a junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. T ...

. In 1832, he inherited the barony of Berwick from his childless older brother,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. Although he was briefly engaged to

Lady Hester Stanhope Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (12 March 1776 – 23 June 1839) was a British adventurer, writer, antiquarian, and one of the most famous travellers of her age. Her excavation of Ascalon in 1815 is considered the first to use modern Archaeology ...

, he died unmarried and without legitimate issue at Red Rice, Hampshire, in 1842, aged sixty-eight, and his title passed to his younger brother,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

. He was buried in the family vault at St Eata's parish church, Atcham.

Coat of arms

Notes

References

*H. C. G. Matthew
"Hill, William Noel, third Baron Berwick (1773–1842)"
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berwick, William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron 1773 births 1842 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Diplomatic peers Hill, William British MPs 1796–1800 Hill, William UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs who inherited peerages Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 3 Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London