[2][3] Scotsdyke is virtually on the border of England and Scotland, and is presumably a reference to the moat about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of the village of Canobie (now spelled Canonbie).

[7] After retiring, Hill established a new home "Canobie Lea" at Eight Mile Plains, Queensland, which was (perhaps unsurprisingly) well known for its landscaping.

[10] Hill started out as an apprentice to his brother, David, then head gardener at Balloch Castle, Dumbartonshire, Scotland.

[12] After his appointment, he made rapid progress in establishing the gardens, which he organised into 34 separate areas, each with a specific purpose.

In the spring of 1856, the newspaper Moreton Bay Courier urged the local citizens to come and enjoy the gardens and walkways, giving praise to Hill for achieving so much so quickly.

[13] In late 1859, Hill worked very diligently to prepare the gardens for the arrival of Sir George Bowen, Queensland's first governor, as the gardens had been chosen as the landing stage for the ship which conveyed the governor and his family and also as focus for many of the associated ceremonies and festivities.

In 1857, he exhibited a native water lily at the Australian Horticultural and Agricultural Show held in Sydney.

In this role, he conducted a number of expeditions to northern Queensland to collect native plants, including trips to Cape York Peninsula in 1862 and the north-east coast to Mossman and the Daintree River in 1873, climbing Mount Bellenden Ker.

Although Hill wanted to establish a herbarium in Queensland, he was unable to do so due to lack of a suitable building and the other demands on his time.

[21] He established through experiments that the juice of the Queensland-grown sugarcane could be successfully granulated, opening up a major new farming crop for Queensland.