| Background: |
Charles Hill and his two brothers Robert and Patrick may have come from Londonderry, Ireland, to Halifax in 1761 with the group of emigrants sponsored by Alexander McNutt. Each brother received 500 acres in Upper Economy, in the District of Colchester. Charles established a successful business career in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as an auctioneer and money lender. He engaged in the West Indies trade, and after the outbreak of war between Britain and France, he was one of the auctioneers authorized by the British Vice-Admiralty Court to deal with condemned prizes. Hill took his nephew Robert, and later his son Charles Samuel, into partnership, and the firm was known as Charles and Robert Hill and Company, and later Charles Hill and Company. He represented Amherst Township in the House of Assembly from 1786-1793 and served on the Executive Council from 1807 until his death in 1825. |
