John Edward Gray Hill

Sir John Edward Gray Hill (1839–1914) was an English solicitor specialised in maritime law. He was also known as an art collector and travel writer. Life He was son of Arthur Hill of Tottenham, born there on 18 September 1839. His father was headmaster of Bruce Castle School, where he was educated. His mother was Ellen Tilt. Lewin Hill and George Birkbeck Norman Hill were his brothers. His uncle was postal reformer Rowland Hill. Hill, who in later life also used the surname Gray-Hill, entered the legal profession. He took his articles with Gregory, Rowcliffes & Co. of London, and was admitted a solicitor in 1863. He joined the Liverpool law firm that was later known as Hill Dickinson in 1864, and became its senior partner, when it traded as Hill, Dickinson, Dickinson, Hill & Roberts of Water Street. In 1868, he replaced Andrew Tucker Squarey as secretary of the Liverpool Steamship Owners' Association, a position he held for 40 years. He was also the secretary of the North Atlantic Steam Traffic Conference, another grouping of shipowners, and sought to defend the British merchant navy from international marine courts being established that were under US influence. Involved with both the International Law Society and the International Maritime Committee, Hill supported the Liberal Unionists from the mid-1880s while in politics. A Unionist associate, in strongly Home Ruler Liverpool, was James Willcox Alsop (1846–1921), another leading solicitor. Hill held a number of directorships in insurance companies. In 1903, he became the President of the Law Society of England and Wales, and in 1904 he was knighted.