William Hilton Jr

{{short description|17th-century English explorer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = William Hilton Jr.

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| birth_date = 1617 (bp. 22 June 1617)

| birth_place = Northwich, Cheshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|1675|9|7}}

| death_place = Charlestown, Massachusetts

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| known_for = Explorer

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}}

William Hilton Jr (1617–1675){{Cite web|title=Hilton, William (1617-1675), seventeenth-century explorer of the Carolina coast|url=https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-0101214|access-date=2020-08-24|work=American National Biography|year=2000|language=en|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0101214|last1=Butler|first1=Lindley S.|isbn=978-0-19-860669-7 }} was an English explorer who explored the coast of The Carolinas in what is today the United States.{{Cite web|title=Carolana Explorers - William Hilton, Jr.|url=https://www.carolana.com/Carolina/Explorers/williamhiltonjr.html|access-date=2020-08-24|website=carolana.com}}

Hilton was born on June 22, 1617, at Northwich, Cheshire, England. His father came to the New England colonies in 1621, with William Jr and his mother following two years later on the ship Anne.{{Cite web|last=Hassam|first=John T.|title=The Hassam family, the Hilton family, the Cheever family|url=https://archive.org/stream/genealogieshassa00hass#page/n33/mode/2up|access-date=2022-07-22|website=Internet Archive|date=1896 |pages=11–13|language=en}} In 1623, the elder Hilton founded the settlement of Dover, New Hampshire with his brother Edward. It is the oldest settlement in the state of New Hampshire as William Jr. was present at the founding as an infant. He traded with the Indians in his father's employment.Sybil Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis. (1991 Reprint of the 1928-39 ed., which was originally published in five parts). Genealogical dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. Baltimore, Md. : Genealogical Pub. Co. p. 335. He became a freeman in 1653 at Newbury, Massachusetts, then from 1654 onwards he resided in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

His expeditions took him all over the east coast of America and to the Caribbean. In August 1662, Hilton sailed from Massachusetts Bay Colony on the ship Adventurer, returning in October of that year with enough information to map the Cape Fear coast.{{Cite book|last=Society|first=Massachusetts Historical|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bx4XAAAAIAAJ|title=Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society|date=1884|publisher=The Society|pages=402|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Salley|first=Alexander Samuel|title=Narratives of early Carolina, 1650-1708 : Salley, A. S. (Alexander Samuel), 1871-1961 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming|url=https://archive.org/details/narrearlycarolina00sallrich|access-date=2020-08-24|website=Internet Archive|pages=31–57|language=en}} In the British Museum there is a map entitled Discouery made by William Hilton of Charles town In New England Marriner from Cape Hatterask Lat: 35 : 30'. to ye west of Cape Roman in Lat: 32.30' In the year 1662 And layd Down in the forme as you see by Nicholas Shapley of the town aforesaid November 1662.

In 1663 he was commander of the ship Adventure, and his Relation of a Discovery lately made on the Coast of Florida was published in London the following year. On August 10, 1663, he sailed from Barbados and the expedition was "set forth by several Gentlemen and Merchants of the Island of Barbadoes." On this voyage he explored the Carolina coast and gave names to many of the features, including Hilton Head. In 1671 he commanded the Amity and transported several enslaved people from Barbados to Boston.

Hilton died in Charlestown in 1675.