Walter Hillier

Sir Walter Caine Hillier KCMG CB (1849 – 9 November 1927) was a British diplomat, academic, author, Sinologist and Professor of Chinese at King's College London.

His father was Charles Batten Hillier, Chief Magistrate, Hong Kong,[1]: 147  and British Consul at Bangkok and his mother, Elizabeth, daughter of missionary Walter Medhurst.

[2] He was the brother of Edward Guy Hillier, one of the most respected bankers at the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank and its long-term manager in Peking (1889-1924).

[3]: 163 Hillier retired in October 1896 and, from February to April 1901, was attached to the Legation in Peking as special political officer for Chinese affairs with the rank of acting First Secretary in the Diplomatic Service.

A stone memorial was erected to Hillier and to a British military officer at Shan-hai-Kwan to recognise the protection afforded to Chinese during the times following the Boxer Rebellion.