William Hilton

William Hilton (died 1651) was an Irish politician, barrister and judge. He is now mainly remembered for his family connection to James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, whose sister Anne he married, and who furthered his career.

Early life

His parentage and early life are obscure, but he is thought to have been born in Lifford, County Donegal, where the Hilton family were prominent in local affairs. In 1613-14 he received a patent from the King's Inns describing him as a counsellor at law, which entitled him to practice at the Irish Bar. His later career suggests that he had considerable knowledge of civil law as well as common law. He became Attorney General to the Chief Justice of Connacht in the same year, and held that office until 1637. He was briefly Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland in 1648, before being replaced by Sir Robert Meredyth, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland for many years. In addition, he was an acting judge of the Irish Court of Admiralty (there was no full-time Irish Admiralty judge after 1638). He had been acting judge of the provincial Admiralty courts of Ulster and Connacht since 1635, and in 1647 he replaced his predecessor Dr. Alan Cooke, whose deputy he had been, as the Admiralty judge for Leinster. He also went as a judge of assize to the North-west of Ireland, when political conditions there permitted.

He was a conscientious judge, who like his predecessor Dr Cooke continued to hear cases in the Admiralty Court in Dublin, even during the gravely disturbed conditions of the 1640s. Costello states that a salvage case, Macredie v Staples, in which he gave judgment in the plaintiff's favour in 1647, gives a useful glimpse of the routine work of the Irish Admiralty.

Death and reputation

He died in 1651 and was buried in St Werburgh's Church, Dublin. His widow Anne died soon afterwards and was buried beside him. They had no children.

He appears to have been a lawyer of some ability and was a very conscientious judge, but historians agree that his rise to eminence was due entirely to his marriage into the Ussher family, and later to Strafford's patronage.