hill-norton was made a life peer as baron hill-norton, of south nutfield in the county of surrey, in february 1979, and took an active role at the house of lords as a crossbencher. he was president of the sea cadet association, chairman of the royal navy club of 1765 & 1785 (united 1889), a liveryman of the shipwrights' company and a freeman of the city of london. he authored a book entitled "no soft options: the politico-military realities of nato" in 1978 and another entitled "sea power: story of warships and navies" in 1982. he also narrated a series on sea power for bbc television in 1985. in later years he took an interest in ufos, writing about them and expressing concern in parliament about the potential destruction of files on them.