Matthew Davenport Hill (6 August 1792 – 7 June 1872) was an English lawyer and penologist.
He was born at Birmingham, where his father, Thomas Wright Hill, for long conducted a private school. He was a brother of Sir Rowland Hill. He acted as assistant in his father's school, but in 1819 was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. In 1832 he was elected one of the Liberal Members of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull, but he lost his seat at the next election in 1834. On the incorporation of Birmingham in 1839 he was chosen recorder; and in 1851 he was appointed commissioner in bankruptcy for the Bristol district. Taking an interest in questions relating to the treatment of criminal offenders, he publicly aired opinions which were the means of introducing many important reforms in the methods of dealing with crime, drawing notably upon the theories of the Scottish penal reformer, Alexander Maconochie. His book Mettray (1855) describes the Mettray Penal Colony with its then new approach to dealing with young delinquents.
One of his principal coadjutors in these reforms was his brother Frederick Hill (1803–1896), whose Amount, Causes and Remedies of Crime, the result of his experience as inspector of prisons for Scotland. marked an era in the methods of prison discipline. Hill was one of the chief promoters of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and the originator of the Penny Magozine. He died at Stapleton, near Bristol.
His principal works are:
See Memoir of Matthew Davenport Hill, by his daughters Rosamond and Florence Davenport Hill (1878).
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Schonswar William Battie Wrightson |
Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull 1832 – 1835 With: William Hutt |
Succeeded by David Carruthers William Hutt |