George Hill FRSE (27 May 1750–19 November 1819) was a Minister of St Andrews. He was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783 and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1789, but an active member for much longer, where he succeeded William Robertson as leader of the Moderates. He was Principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews as well as Dean of the Chapel Royal and Dean of the Order of the Thistle.
Life
George Hill was born on 27 May 1750 in St Andrews. His father, Rev John Hill, was one of the ministers of that town. He was the eldest son of his second wife, Jean M'Cormick, but had older siblings from the first marriage, including John Hill. His sister, Janet Hill, was the mother of Rev George Cook.
His family was intermarried with the other academic and clerical families in the town. George was educated with and mixed socially with the local aristocracy, including Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine, later Lord Chancellor and The Earl of Kinnoul. Both of these were very influential in the Crown patronage networks operated by Henry Dundas, effective ruler of Scotland (and also Chancellor of St Andrews University, which itself had extensive patronage powers in the University and in appointments to clerical livings).
He was educated at St Andrews Grammar School, then entered St Andrews University when he was eleven years old. There he displayed a remarkable memory and an aptitude for mathematics. He had intended to go on to study divinity but his father died when he was in his second year, leaving a large family in straitened circumstances. However, he went on to graduate M.A. when he was fourteen. After spending some time in London and Pembrokeshire as tutor to the son of the Member of Parliament Pryce Campbell, he accompanied his young charge to Edinburgh University, where he took the opportunity to continue his own studies in divinity. While there, he was regularly absorbed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland when it met there in the spring. He told his mother "spend most of my time there and have been highly entertained". He mixed with all the stars of the Scottish Enlightenment while in Edinburgh, being particularly repelled by what he thought were the vulgar manners and conversation of the philosopher David Hume.
He returned to St Andrews and became, on 21 May 1772, just short of his 22nd birthday, joint professor of Greek (though his aged predecessor still monopolised the salary, leaving George the private tuition fees). He lectured once a fortnight, going over homework assignments in the intervening week. His lecture notes indicate his course was far more a cultural studies course – covering history, geography, literature, drama and philosophy – which is just as well, as it appears many of his students could not recognise the Greek alphabet. He also organised "dancing assemblies" to keep them entertained, as well as entertaining supper parties to which the other professors were invited.
Ministry
On 3 May 1775, using family connections, he managed to have himself licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Haddington, and soon afterwards began assisting the ailing Principal Tullideph in his parochial church of St Leonards. He was a success in the pulpit, committing whole written sermons to his remarkable memory as he was too short-sighted to read them out. In 1775, he was offered the living of Coldstream by the Earl of Haddington, a pupil of his father's, but he turned it down, preferring to stick with his duties in St Andrews. In 1778, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Haddington. In 1779 he was being urged by Principal Robertson to accept an offer by the Town Council of a post in Edinburgh, but he had reasons to think prospects were opening up nearer home, so he politely declined.