There is a legend passed around among the Parkhill families.  I found out about the legend when my aunt found some old family papers that had belonged to M.Gena Parkhill, my great grandmother. Among those papers was a copy of the legend that appeared to have been written around 1880-1900 by her cousin.  Since then I have discovered other Parkhill descendants who have similar versions of the story.

  "An old man and his sister, both unmarried, lived on a beautiful estate overlooking Tor Bay near Torquay, Devonshire, England.  One night a storm came up and a ship was wrecked.  In the morning, on the shore was found a dead woman, apparently a nurse, and a young child who apparently was to young to talk or could only speak a few words in French.  He however, was dressed accordingly and wore a locket showing the French nobility.  All efforts to locate his friends were in vain and he was brought up by the old couple who gave him the surname Parkhill for their estate, Park Hill Manor. (A map of Torquay, published by A. C. Black of London in 1882 shows Park Hill Manor to be on Park Hill Rd. in South Devonshire.)  The boy grew to manhood and lived in Faversham, Kent.  He later married and was known to have had at least 2 sons and possibly others who supposedly founded the Parkhill line in Glasgow and Paisley, Scotland.  These 2 sons became involved in the Catholic - Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland and became field officers under William III and were granted parcels of land in the counties Derry and Antrim, Northern Ireland.  Other sons supposedly went to Glasgow, Scotland.
 4 brothers, Nathaniel, James, David, and Hugh, descendants of the Parkhill family above, set sail for the New World, first arriving in the New York - Connecticut area.  One later went to Massachusetts.  One brother was accidentally killed. They were Covenanters."

I have some questions concerning the 'legend', based on information I received from a historian at Devon, England.  A letter dated June 19, 1995, addressed from P.J. Bottrill, County Librarian of South Devon Area, in Torquay "Thank you for your recent letter to the Imperial Hotel, Torquay, which has been passed to me for attention.  I am able to confirm the existence of Park Hill House, Torquay. This is in Park Hill Road but has been called Park Hall for some seventy years, which explains why your contact at the hotel did not know it.  Unfortunately, Park Hill House is something of a false lead, as it only dates from around 1820. Prior to this Park Hill (the area on which is stands) had no buildings at all.... One possible clue is that during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Park Hill belonged to the manor of Torwood, which was at that time in the hands of the Ridgeway family (later the Earls of Londonderry). It is quite possible (although again very difficult to prove) that the child may have been washed ashore under Park Hill, which is on the coast, and subsequently adopted, by the Ridgeways of the day.  Certainly, Sir Thomas Ridgeway, who became the first Earl of Londonerry in 1623, was important in Ireland under James I.  This may have some bearing on your family's service under William III at the Boyne."  This same Sir Thomas Ridgeway (c.1565-1631), a Devon man, who was treasurer in Ireland from 1606 to 1616 was engaged in the plantation of Ulster.
Further the story about the 4 brothers should be questioned as well. The 4 brothers named in the legend were Nathaniel, Hugh, David and James. There is no record found of any Hugh Parkhill in New England, and indeed, Hugh is not a name that is carried down through succeeding generations like Nathaniel, Robert, David and James are, although a son of the immigrant David Parkhill of PA is named Hugh. Some say that Hugh is synonomous with the Robert Parkill who shows up in Worcester Co., MA in the 1760's with sons James, Nathaniel and David. This is doubtful to say the least.
One of the immigrant brothers in the legend is named Nathaniel Parkhill and it is said he married Mary Holden.  However, the Nathaniel Parkhill who married Mary Holden, and was son to Robert Parkhill of Leicester, MA could not possibly be the same Nathaniel who imigrated with 3 brothers and was a Covenanter.  This Nathaniel was not born until 1745 according to his pension application.  The dates of his marriage and children's births, lead credence to this.  Also, if he had even been a young man or teenager at the time of his immigration in 1740, he would have been quite old to serve in the Revolutionary War as a private, being 50 or older (some did serve at that age or older, but usually as officers as their great age was a distinction that set them apart.) - He and brother David served together during the Revolution as is shown in David's pension application, and David was a minor when his father died in 1766, so he could not possibly be the David that emigrated either.  The same with James.  This David clearly went to Vermont, as did Nathaniel and Mary Holden.
I believe this is one of those stories that got passed down and the information became confused as there were so many sons of the same name in the Parkhill families.
I believe that there probably were 4 brothers who originally came.  I don't find any records of the Parkhills earlier than 1757, although they were said to come about 1740.  The brothers possible were David, Nathaniel, James and Robert.  I believe that David (the immigrant), is the David that is found in Fayette Co., PA around the time of the Revolutionary War, perhaps with his immigrant brother James, as both names are early found there. Maybe it was Nathaniel who was said to die shortly after arriving, as he does not show up again in any records I have researched.  The immigrant Robert (who some say was Hugh), settled at Leicester, MA (they show no record of him there, and his probate records state he was of Weston and Sutton).  His descendants clearly were David, Nathaniel, James, Jean, and Margaret according to probate.  These descendants went to Vermont, NY and points west.
I have found no evidence of an immigrant Hugh, and only one descendant named Hugh, making me wonder where that name ever came from. With so many Nathaniels, Davids, and James, you'd think there'd be a Hugh or two somewhere in subsequent generations.  Is it possible there was a brother Hugh who stayed in Ireland?  Or perhaps Hugh was the father of the original 4 emigrants?
There are Parkhill's found in Ireland, England and Scotland in the 17th and 18th centuries. Any of them could have been our ancestors, although I do feel the migration pattern presented to us in the legend is probably fairly accurate.  It makes sense that our line originated in England - then went to Scotland and Ireland.  What other reason could there be for our Parkhill's not appearing in a Scottish clan? If they were native Scots - and warriors - wouldn't they have been aligned with a clan?
Until one of us comes up with an immigation place and date - we will not know.

Here is what else is conjectured about the Parkhill name.  In his History of Dumbarton Castle, Borough and Parish, John Irving quotes the following: " It is to this disturbed period that genealogists trace the rise of the great House of Lennox.  Among the Saxon Chiefs of Northumbria who were driven north was one ARKIL, the son of Egfrith, who, having been defeated in a last stand against William the Norman, found refuge at the Court of Malcolm Canmore.  He received a gift of the land generally described as "Comitis de levenax," and his son or grandson, ALWYN, is the first Earl of Lennox of whom we have any account.
The date of his death is about 1155." p. 6
In APPENDIX A, Irving shows the Earls of Lennox as following:
                                              THE FIRST EARLS
                                 ARKIL, who came to Scotland in 1069 or '70
                                 ALWYN MacARKIL, first Earl to Levenax, mentioned 1130-1155.
                                 ALWYN, second Earl, between 1155-1127.
                                 MALDUIN, Third Earl, 1217-1270
                                 MALCOLM, Fourth Earl (grandson of preceding), 1270-1292
                                 MALCOLM, Fifth Earl, the friend of Bruce, 1292-1333
                                 DONALD, Sixth earl, 1333-1364
                                 MARGARET, Countess, married her cousin, Walter of Faslane, 1364-1390
                                 DUNCAN, Eighth Earl, 1385-1425

Irving, continues: "In order, however, to set this in a clear light it is necessary to note a few particulars regarding the original line of Lennox Earls from 1153, when the Earldom was created, down to 1425, when Duncan, the eight Earl, was executed at Sterling by James I. ARKYLE, ARKIL, OR ARCHIL, the son of AYKFRITH or EGFRITH a Saxon, who had large estates in Northumberland and York, was one of those who, after resisting to their utmost the advance northward of William the Conqueror, found refuge at the Court of Malcolm Canmore.  Malcolm, it is said, conferred on ARCHIL a large extent of territory in Dumbarton and Sterling, which was later erected into the Earldom of Lennox. ARKIL is supposed to have had a son of the same name, who was in turn the father of ALWYN MARCARKIL, the first Earl of Lennox.  His name appears frequently in charters of the reign of David I, with whom he seems to have been a great favorite, and King Malcolm IV, aware of the high position at the court of his grandfather, created him Earl of Lennox in the beginning of his reign, which commenced in 1153.  Such is the generally accepted origin of the Earldom, though the dates and descent have not as yet been absolutely verified.  Lord Hailes says, in his case on the Sutherland Peerage, that the Lennox origin belongs '"to the ages of conjecture,"' while Mr. Skene on the other hand endeavours to prove a Celtic origin for the family, but the chief authority in favour of the account given above is Walter MacFarlan of Arrochar, the eminent antiquary and genealogist."  p. 201-202

And.. according to George F. Black's authoritative work, "The Surnames of Scotland", the name originated in the lands of Parkhill, in the barony of Tarboulton, Ayrshire, Scotland.  The Aberdeen Public Library defines the name as "A man from an enclosed hill".  It is found in Scottish records as early as 1605 in it's present form but does not appear in any published list of clans or clan septs.  Black goes on to say that the first person to bear the name of Parkhill was Robert Parkhill a merchant of Glasgow in 1605.

The Parkhill Coat of Arms shows a Stag Trippant Unguled on a Hillock Proper. The Stag of Scotland was noted for it's strength and love of freedom.  The Parkhills couldn't have had a greater Arms than that.  The family motto is also engraved underneath in Latin which is "Capta Majora", which means "Engaged in Greater Things."

PARKHILL, a section of the city of London.

PARKHILL, PA

PARKHILL, OK

The lands of PARKHILL in the barony of Torboltoun in Ayrshire.  Many from this area went to Ireland in the Plantations of Ulster in 1606

There are other Parkhill place names in Ireland, Scotland and the US also.

The name has been seen as Parkhill, Parkill, Parkell, Parkel, Parkle, Perkel, Parcel.