The Restoration doorcase at Soulton honors the marriage of Thomas Hill, who served as High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1680. His portrait is not currently located at Soulton, but his wife, Elizabeth’s, portrait is. The painting is attributed to Mary Beale:
Elizabeth Hill (wife of Thomas Hill). Portrait attributed to Mary Beale.
Their arms are those in the door case at the top of the Wren steps.
The 1668 door case at Soultn Hall – containing ‘sermons in stones’.
It is helpful for some details of his life to be shared:
- He attended Oriel College, Oxford;
- He was a member of Grays Inn;
- He through out a witch trial as abusive;
- He was a justice who presided at trials at Soulton in the Moot Hall
- He recived a commission frmo Charles I to repair Wem after the Great Fire of Wem
- He was involved in the early phases of the industral revolution via paper mills
1675 Deed signed and sealed by Thomas Hill of Soulton
Unfortunately, changes in the parish church in Wem mean that the monuments to Thomas Hill and those close to him were lost. However, fortunately, they were recorded in Antiquarian Notes And Drawings Collected By William Mytton (d. 1746) , and drawings of them can be found via Shropshire Archives with the reference X7381/240/1519A. The original is in the University of Birmingham, see this summary from the National Archives.
It is worth showing the dedications on the mounments (c) Shropshire Archives:
Wem: Monumental inscriptions at Wem: Thomas Hill (d. 1711); Elizabeth Hill (d. 1703), wife of Thomas Hill and daughter of Richard Corbet; Thomas Hill (b. 1681, d. 1722); Vincent Hill (d. 1687), son of Thomas Hill and his wife Elizabeth Hill.
