Hiltons of Dover, N.H.
Are the Hiltons of Dover, N.H. related to Mark Roger Hilton, a possible descendant (on the other side of the blanket) from Edward IV, King of England???
Ann[a] Roberts, was the daughter of Thomas Roberts who along with Edward and William Hilton were the first settlers in Dover in 1623, just three years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Dover is on the Cochecho River, just above the Piscataqua River which leads into the Atlantic Ocean about 12 miles south of the city. This part of New Hampshire borders the ocean for about 20 miles between Newburyport, Massachusetts and Kittery, Maine. Thomas Roberts’ wife was named Rebecca and it has often been suggested that she was a sister of Edward and William Hilton. (ref. 6, 7). For examples Scales says, “…it is a tradition that Mr. Roberts’ wife was a Hilton, sister to Edward and William. There is no record in regard to this matter of matrimony but various corroborating data indicate that such was probably the fact in the relationship of these three men.” (ref. 6). However, others say that this is only a hypothesis and cannot be firmly established. (ref. 3, 8). Nonetheless, many descendants of this line, seem to readily accept this possibility as fact. (ref. 9).
The next step in determining the possible ancestry of this family, then, rests with tracing the Hiltons back to their homeland in England. It is known that the two brothers, and possibly their sister, if there was one (i.e. the “Rebecca” in question) were born in or near London, sometime around 1590. As you can imagine, records from this time period are not numerous, and it is almost impossible to trace family ancestries, except for more notable families. One such family is the Hilton or DeHilton family from the castle of Hulton, or Hilton, in Durham County. (ref 4, p 331). From British records, this family can trace their genealogy from about 1200 to William DeHilton, born in 1516 in Yorkshire, England and died in 1562 in Durhamshire. His wife was Margaret Metcalfe and they had several children, one of whom may have been Mark Hilton. The key here is that Mark Hilton’s grandfather was Sir William De Hilton, husband of Sybil Lumley, and Sybil was the granddaughter of King Edward IV (ref 10,). Edward was the Plantagenet member of the House of York, who reigned from 1461-1483 and was succeeded by his son, Edward V, who within the year disappeared into the Tower of London, presumably banished by his uncle who subsequently was crowned King Richard III, made even more famous by the Shakespearean play. (ref 11, 12)
As was typical of that day, British kings often had mistresses, and these women bore them children. However, in that more promiscuous time (or perhaps just a time more tolerant of what the Royalty did), these illegitimate children, while not in line for the throne, were known to be descended from the King and were often given titles. It was in this way that Sybil Lumley’s mother, Elizabeth Plantagenet, born about 1464, came to be accepted as the daughter of King Edward IV and his mistress Elizabeth Wayte. While there is some confusion about her mother’s name, it appears well established that Elizabeth Plantagenet was the King’s daughter, and that she married Sir Thomas Lumley. (ref. 10, 12). In this way, subsequent Hiltons are known to be descendants of King Edward.
A missing link still remained, however. Were William DeHilton and his alleged son, Mark/Roger, ancestors of the Hiltons who settled in New England in the 1620’s? To find an answer to this question, in 1885 Nathan Hilton, a magistrate of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, hired a woman in London to search for his roots and determine if the American Hiltons were related to Mark Hilton and the DeHiltons, and of course through them, to King Edward IV (ref. 4).
According to the “Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and NH” (ref 4, p 331), “This woman, identity unknown, in order to connect the Durham County family with the two brothers in London and America, must have invented probate records of two estates, ‘Ralph Hilton, 1602’ and ‘Roger Hilton 1619’ [since later] exhaustive searches …failed to find any trace of ‘Ralph’ and ‘Roger’. They did, however, find over thirty contemporary records supporting the origin of the American emigrant brothers in Northwich, Chester County. [Nonetheless], the baronial pedigree was published in the Yarmouth Herald, Mar. 22-29, Apr 5-12, 1898, and will doubtless charm the credulous for years to come.”Apparently based on this 19th Century research, many amateur genealogists have connected the two brothers, Edward and William Hilton, who settled in Dover, NH, and were known to be the sons of William Hilton from Chester County, England, to the Durham County Hilton family and made them sons of Mark, or sometimes Mark Roger, Hilton. In this way the royal connection was made. Note, there is a pedigree online for Elizabeth Lumley Hilton, but it shows no sons named Mark or Roger.
References:
and Forfeited and extinct Peerages of the British Empire”, (London, 1866) pp.
277-278, 337-339
Rutland, VT. 1974) p.115