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![William HILLS, [Children?]](img/male.jpg)
William HILLS, [Children?]
Est 1520 - 1588 (~ 68 years)
Has no ancestors but 551 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name William HILLS Suffix [ONS gp] [Children?] Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Est 1520 - The comment "Likely, But Far From Certain" refers to William as the father of Hercules.
If I am right in believing that Hercules was the son of William from Leaveland, it is worth noting that in neighbouring parishes around the same time there were other families using significantly overlapping range of Christian names, in particular Laurence, Andrew and Michael (also William, but that was so common generally as to be of little value).
I think a Michael of Badlesmere and Laurence of Molash could easily have been brothers of William.
Quite a number of Hills wills survive, so I am hoping that seeing them a clearer picture may emerge.
Gender Male Residence From 1563 to 1571 Leaveland, Kent, England 
- If I have correctly identified the baptisms of his daughter Susan and son Michael then the family were probably living in Leaveland parish by 1563 and to at least 1571.
Buried 29 Feb 1587/88 Ss. Peter and Paul’s Church, Boughton under Blean, Kent, England - ** Possible burial ** - no strong evidence that this William.
From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 30 Sep 2020)
"The 29th of Feb. was buried Willyam Hills."
There clearly was a 'Wilyam' having children baptised in Leaveland in the latter half of the C16th, whether or not he was Hercules' father, but there seems to be no burial there.
There is, though, a burial of a 'Willyam' in Boughton under Blean in 1587/8 that could be this William i.e. it may well be that William and his family moved from Leaveland to Boughton, not simply that his children did.
Person ID I29635 All | Teresa's direct ancestors Last Modified 17 Mar 2021
Married - Although I do not know for certain their parents names, four can be identified as siblings due to Hercules leaving small bequests to a sister and 2 brothers in his will (i.e. William, Susan, Hercules and Michael are siblings).
Baptisms in Leaveland of a Susan and Michael who seem likely to be Hercules siblings with these names suggest that others baptised there around the same time (1561/2 to 1570) were also his siblings.
The baptisms in this register do not show a father's name until 1570. Michael's baptism and that of Peter are the only two to name their father: Wilyam. From the spacing of the children it appears there was just the one Hills couple having children in the parish at this time, so it is probable that the others were also children of William.
The tiny size of the parish also make this likely; there may well have been close Hills relations living nearby but they could well be over the parish border.
The register is like so many that were transcribed at the end of the C16th. It says at the start:
"The Register book of the Parish of Leaveland of Christenings weddings and burialls from the yere of or Lord God 1553 truely copied out of the old book the first day of June 1598".
Despite the stated start date of 1553 no baptism is recorded until 1556. In the period covered by the first 2 pages, 1556 to 1587, most years have one to 4 baptisms, yet just 3 are recorded before 1563 and none in 1575-1577. It seems unlikely this is due to chance; maybe records were badly kept for these years or entries in these time periods may have faded or rotted away before the transcribing was done.
FamilySearch does not have any others, but checking the film nos. of the entries it has they all seem to be from the PRs, not ATs.
The missing children, if this was Hercules' family, i.e. Hercules and William, possibly Gabriel, and possibly others currently unknown / uncertain, could have been born before 1553 or 6, or possibly in one of the gaps.
Two other possible children of William are Lucy and Frances, who married in / from Leaveland 1577/8 - 1601.
Since the surviving ATs date from 1563 it should be possible to check to see if they have any other baptisms.
The fact that Gabriel and possibly others from the Leaveland register are not mentioned may mean Gabriel was more distantly related and the others may have died.
If the Leaveland family is not Hercules' family, there could well have been more siblings than the 3 mentioned in Hercules' will and the possible brother Gabriel.
Children9 children Last Modified 27 Oct 2020 Family ID F11405 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- The comment "Likely, But Far From Certain" refers to William as the father of Hercules.