Hill-Wood was born in
Kensington,
London, son of
Denis Hill-Wood and his wife Mary Smith. His father, three uncles and grandfather all played first-class cricket for
Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Peter Hill-Wood attended
Ludgrove School and
Eton College, where he was a classmate of former Arsenal director
Sir Roger Gibbs. He then served in the
Coldstream Guards. After leaving the Guards, Hill-Wood entered the banking industry, eventually rising to become a vice-chairman of
Hambros Bank, having previously been in charge of its investment division. After Hill-Wood retired from his post at Hambros, he was a director of
Cavenham Ltd and Hellenic and General Trust.
Arsenal chairmanship He was the third generation of his family to serve as chairman of
Arsenal, following his father,
Denis Hill-Wood (in office 1962–1982), and his grandfather,
Samuel Hill-Wood (1929–1936 and 1946–1949) from
Glossop,
Derbyshire. Hill-Wood joined the Arsenal board in October 1962. Peter succeeded his father after the latter's death in 1982. He was not in charge of any day-to-day business at the club, which was generally run by
David Dein and a succession of first team managers. Hill-Wood was a colleague of
Chips Keswick – a former Bank of England director – at Hambros and subsequently saw him recruited to the Arsenal board to provide strong
City of London contacts at a time when the club were financing their new stadium. Hill-Wood sold much of his family holdings in the club to former vice-chairman
David Dein in the 1980s and 1990s and the rest to
Stan Kroenke. On 14 June 2013 Hill-Wood stepped down and was replaced as chairman by Keswick. • He and
Chips Keswick were both members of Business for Sterling. ==Personal life==