Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Downshire PC
First Lord of Trade
In office 9 September 1763 – 20 July 1765
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	George Grenville
Preceded by	The Earl of Shelburne
Succeeded by	The Earl of Dartmouth
In office 16 August – December 1766
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Earl of Chatham
Preceded by	The Earl of Dartmouth
Succeeded by	The Viscount Clare
In office 20 January 1768 – 31 August 1772
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Earl of Chatham The Duke of Grafton Lord North
Preceded by	The Viscount Clare
Succeeded by	The Earl of Dartmouth
Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office 27 February 1768 – 27 August 1772
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Earl of Chatham The Duke of Grafton Lord North
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	The Earl of Dartmouth
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office 24 November 1779 – 27 March 1782
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	Lord North
Preceded by	The Viscount Weymouth
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	(1718-05-30)30 May 1718 Fairford, Gloucestershire
Died	7 October 1793(1793-10-07) (aged 75)
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	(1) Lady Margaretta FitzGerald (d. 1766) (2) Mary Stawell (1726–1780)

Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, PC (30 May 1718 – 7 October 1793), known as the 2nd Viscount Hillsborough from 1742 to 1751 and as the 1st Earl of Hillsborough from 1751 to 1789, was a British politician of the Georgian era.

Best known in North America as the Earl of Hillsborough, he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1768 to 1772, a critical period leading toward the American War of Independence.