| Authorised form of name | Hill; Abraham (1633 - 1721); merchant |
| Dates | 1633 - 1721 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | 16 June 1635 |
| Date of death | 5 February 1721 |
| Dates and places | Baptism:
St Dionis Backchurch, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe (16 June 1635)
Burial:
The chancel of Sutton-at-Hone Church, Kent, England, United Kingdom, Europe (14 February 1721) |
| Occupation | Merchant; administrator |
| Research field | Antiquities |
| Languages |
| Natural philosophy |
| Activity | Education:
Taught himself several languages and natural and moral philosophy
Career:
Entered his father's merchant business and inherited a legacy on death of his parents (1660); purchased the lease of St John's or 'Sutton Manor' estate, Kent (1660) and introduced apples and pears to the estate, for making cider and perry; colleague and sometime scientific confidant of Robert Hooke FRS; Assistant to the Royal African Company (1683-1685, 1688-1690); Deputy Governor (1691-1692); Commissioner for Trade, Board of Trade (1696-1702); Comptroller to John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury (1691-1694); collected coins and books; retired to his estate of St. John's in Sutton-at-Hone, Kent (1689)
|
| Membership category | Founder Fellow |
| Date of election | 28/11/1660 |
| Age at election | 27 |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1663-1666, 1672-1721; Treasurer 1663-1665, 1679-1700; VP 1715-1716; Secretary 1673-1675
Committee and panels:
Committee for the quicksilver experiment (1661); Committee to examine Birchensa's synopsis of music (1662); to review Mersenne on the tenacity of bodies (1662); for the making of statutes (1663); to consider experiments for the entertainment of Charles II (1664), for ordinary meetings (1676, 1680); for agriculture, histories of trade, correspondence, experiments on diving (1664, 1679); for the Repository (1666); for the inventory of the Society's possessions (1676); for the prism experiment in the Newton-Linus dispute (1676); for publication (1676, 1682); for the purchase of property (1678-81, 1703); for the history of Barbados (1681); for verifying entries in the Society's journal and other books (1682); for the publication of the History of Fishes (1685-86) (14); for Estruscan inscriptions (1700) |
| Relationships | Parents: Richard Hill and Agnes Hill
Married: 1) Anne Whitelocke (d.1661), daughter of Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke, Kt; 2) Elizabeth Pratt, daughter of Michael Pratt of Bromley-by-Bow, Middlesex |
| Published works | https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n85035275/ |
| General context | Abraham Hill was an Assistant and later Deputy Governor of The Royal Adventurers into Africa, later Royal African Company (RAC) and as such played a significant
role in its administration. The RAC was a British trading company established by Royal Charter in 1660 which enslaved and sold African people. The company was chartered by Charles II, the founding royal Patron of the Royal Society, which was also chartered in 1660. The RAC was made up of and funded by members of the Stuart royal family and London merchants many of whom were, or went on to become, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Royal Society itself held shares in the company from 1682 until 1699 and as Secretary for the Royal Society in 1682, Abraham Hill was responsible for securing the investment which was approved by the Council of the Royal Society. The RAC held a monopoly on English trade on the west coast of Africa. The original interests of the company were gold and other natural resources. The Company's second charter in 1663 mentions trade in enslaved people, mainly transported to British owned estates in the West Indies and America. The Jesus College Cambridge Legacy of Slavery Working Party has stated that the RAC was responsible for selling more Africans into slavery in America than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade, and that they ran a brutal regime with the full knowledge of their investors. The company became insolvent in 1708, it survived until 1752 when its assets were transferred to the new African Company of Merchants, which lasted until 1821. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
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| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Davies; Wikipedia
References:
Lyons, H G. 1939. 'Two Hundred Years Ago: 1739', in Notes and Records, vol. 2, pp. 34-42
Turnbull, G H. 1953. 'Samuel Hartlib's Influence on the Early History of the Royal Society', in notes and Records, vol. 10, pp. 101-130
Maddison, R E W. 1960. 'Abraham Hill, FRS (1635-1722)', in Notes and Records, vol. 15, pp. 173-182
Govier, M. 1999. 'The Royal Society, Slavery and the Island of Jamaica: 1660-1700', in Notes and Records, vol. 53, pp. 203-217
Gribbin, J. 2004. 'The Fellowship' (Penguin Books)
Malcolmson, C. 2016. 'Studies of skin colour in the early Royal Society' (Routledge)
AssocMaterial:
Correspondence of Abraham Hill from various repositories is listed in the Early Modern Letters Online catalogue, http://emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/forms/advanced?start=50&people=hill,%20abraham&start=0 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/245730896 |
| Royal Society code | NA6148 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| DM/5/63 | Minutes of meetings of the Committee for Agriculture | June-September 1664 |
| DM/5/21 | Receipts signed by Abraham Hill, Treasurer, Royal Society | 1681-1683 |
| DM/5/78 | 'Recommended to Mr Hill' | c.1660s |
| IM/002092 | Hill, Abraham | nd |
| DM/5/20 | Hooke's bills of expenditure by him on the Society's account, and an order dated 23 December 1681 by Sir Christopher Wren to Abraham Hill, Treasurer, to pay Hooke £40 | 23 December 1681 |
| MS/390/17 | Bond of Abraham Hill to the Treasurer of the Royal Society | 23 November 1674 |
| MS/390/115 | Bond of Abraham Hill to the Treasurer of the Royal Society | 17 January 1706 |
| DM/5/71 | Recommendation that seven persons (named) 'do take into their Custody all the Rarities, bookes and other goods and chattells belonging to the Royall Society' | 17th century |
| MM/16/39 | Minutes of a committee 'for taking care of the repository of the Royal Society' | 3 February 1676 |
| EL/N1/64 | Copy of a letter, from Isaac Newton, Hans Sloane, Richard Mead, Edmond Halley, and Abraham Hill to John Flamsteed, dated at Crane Court | 1712 |
| DM/5/64 | Minutes of meetings of the Committee for Agriculture (endorsed as 'Transactions of the Georgicall Committee') | October 1664-February 1665 |
| DM/5/12A | Note on an order of the Council relating to the payment of arrears at Michaelmas 1673 | 5 January 1673 |
| DM/5/66 | Minutes of meetings of the Mechanicall Committee | July-October 1664 |
| IM/002091 | Hill, Abraham | nd |
| CLP/13/13a | Note, concerning the great age of Henry Jenkins by Mr [Abraham?] Hill | [1697] |
| CLP/19/56 | Paper, 'Inquiries for Guinny [Guinea]' by Abraham Hill | [1670] |
| EL/T/59 | Letter, from Ralph Thoresby to Abraham Hill, dated at Leeds | 29 June 1700 |
| RBO/3/21 | 'Enquiries for Guiny' [Guinea] by Abraham Hill | nd |
| P/0064 | Portrait of Hill, Abraham | 1650s |