Marquess of Downshire is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, a former Secretary of State.

Hill had already been created Earl of Hillsborough and Viscount Kilwarlin of County Down in the Peerage of Ireland in 1751 with remainder, in default of male issue of his own, to his uncle Arthur Hill, 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was further created Baron Harwich, of Harwich in the County of Essex, in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1756 with a seat in the British House of Lords. In 1772 he was further ennobled with a second Earldom of Hillsborough and as Viscount Fairford in the County of Gloucester, both in the Peerage of Great Britain.

Prior to the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, the Marquesses sat in the House of Lords as the Earls of Hillsborough.

Among many other estates, the Marquess owned Hillsborough Castle, Blessington House in County Wicklow, and Easthampstead Park near Bracknell. The Marquesses are also Hereditary Constables of Hillsborough Fort.

The present family seat is Clifton Castle, near Masham, North Yorkshire.

Ancestors

  • Sir Moyses Hill, knight (died February 1630) came to Ireland as a soldier under the Earl of Essex.
  • William Hill (died 1693) succeeded to the Hillsborough estates on the death of his elder half-brother Moyses Hill, and was a Privy Councillor under Charles II and James II and Member of the Irish Parliament for Ballyshannon from 1661 until 1666.
  • Arthur Francis Nicholas Wills Hill, 9th Marquess of Downshire, 8th Baron Sandys (born 1959)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire (1788–1845)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 4th Marquess of Downshire (1812–1868)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 5th Marquess of Downshire (1844–1874)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 6th Marquess of Downshire (1871–1918)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 7th Marquess of Downshire (1894–1989)
  • Lord Arthur Francis Henry Hill (1895–1953)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 8th Marquess of Downshire (1929–2003)
  • 35px Arthur Hill, 9th Marquess of Downshire (born 1959)
  • (1). Edmund Hill, Earl of Hillsborough (b. 1996)
  • (2). Lord Anthony Ian Hill (b. 1961)
  • (3). Marcus Robert Francis Hill (b. 1994)
  • (4). Orlando Harry Wills Hill (b. 1997)
  • (5). George Oliver Percy Hill (b. 2000)
  • 35px (Arthur) Edwin Hill-Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor (1819–1894)
  • 35px Barons Trevor

See also

  • Viscount Dungannon
  • Baron Sandys
  • Baron Trevor

References

Attribution