The DNB cites on critic who describes Hill as ‘the cultural glue that holds this literary period together’. Hill was a man of letters and entrepreneur with numerous business schemes, some of which proved costly. In the 1720s, he was an important patron and promoter of other writers. In some of his works, he petitioned the government and members of the royal family for public support of the arts. He wrote plays, poems, essays, and periodicals himself. He constantly tried to be involved in the theatre. By1737 he was in deep financial distress, which he attempted to relieve with some business projects and literary publications.