Hillsborough was founded in 1754 and was first owned, surveyed, and mapped by William Churton (a surveyor for Earl Granville). Originally to be named Orange, it was first named Corbin Town (for Francis Corbin, a member of the governor's council and one of Granville's land agents) and was renamed Childsburgh (in honor of Thomas Child, the attorney general for North Carolina from 1751–1760 and another of Granville's land agents) in 1759. It was not until 1766 that it was named Hillsborough, after Wills Hill, then the Earl of Hillsborough, the British secretary of state for the colonies, and a relative of royal Governor William Tryon.