Asquith
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2005
- Location
- Somerset, UK
I’m sorry to report that the Rev Dr Richard Leslie Hills died on 10th May.
Aspects of his work are well known to some PM members.
Richard L. Hills played a valuable role in the field of industrial heritage, and was the author of a number of well-researched books, whose subjects included the history of steam engines, locomotives, textile machinery, paper-making and windmills, and biographies of James Watt and Richard Roberts.
He influenced a far wider audience than his books will ever reach, through his role in establishing the superb Museum of Science and Industry (MoSI) in Manchester. He realised that Manchester’s industries were rapidly disappearing, and embarked on earmarking and recovering numerous relevant artefacts, despite limited resources and the lack of premises in which to display them. Some aspects of his efforts are recorded in 'The North Western Museum of Science and Industry, Some Reminiscences' by Richard L. Hills, available online:-
https://library.chethams.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/09/north_western_museum_of_science_and_industry.pdf
Although I’d always been interested in engineering, the range and depth of my interests was markedly boosted by visits to MoSI. In fact I can identify one item in particular that was pivotal in turning an interest in old machinery into something of an obsession: it was a now-rare rope-driven overhead travelling crane by Craven Bros, whose mechanical workings were satisfyingly intriguing, and could be observed from a gallery above.
I mention this crane because when I visited the museum I few weeks ago, I was shocked to find that MoSI have decided to close the entire gallery containing the crane and other well-chosen displays relating to electric power, gas, and sewers.
I learned of Dr Hills’s death in the latest copy of the Newcomen Society's ‘Newcomen Links’ (June 2019), which contains two obituaries by people who knew him well.
Perhaps surprisingly, his background was not in industry. He studied classics and went to Cambridge University, and had a period in the Royal Artillery, before becoming a teacher, and then a museum professional.
At school one of his classics teachers, who had been a member of the 1953 expedition which conquered Everest, nurtured an enduring interest in mountaineering, which nearly ended badly.
He also benefited from the school’s workshop, which gave him a good grounding, especially for setting up his own home metal and wood-working workshop. I wonder how many schoolkids are allowed to touch such machinery nowadays? Another of his interests was his 1924 Lancia Lambda, which he had for over 50 years.
In the 1980s he was ordained as a priest, and susbsequently divided his time between the church and industrial history.
One of his friends described him as a very modest, quiet and shy man.
I never met him, but over the last couple of years I contacted him by email with a variety of queries. He always responded to my queries quickly and enthusiastically. On several occasions, when he needed to explain things with sketches, he sent hand-written letters, and apologised for his handwriting, which by then was slightly impaired by Parkinson’s disease. When I was puzzled by practical aspects of John Ericsson's curious bellows-blown steam boilers, Richard was the only person I knew who had been involved in the construction, testing, and operation of a replica Braithwaite & Ericsson 1829 'Novelty' locomotive!
Aspects of his work are well known to some PM members.
Richard L. Hills played a valuable role in the field of industrial heritage, and was the author of a number of well-researched books, whose subjects included the history of steam engines, locomotives, textile machinery, paper-making and windmills, and biographies of James Watt and Richard Roberts.
He influenced a far wider audience than his books will ever reach, through his role in establishing the superb Museum of Science and Industry (MoSI) in Manchester. He realised that Manchester’s industries were rapidly disappearing, and embarked on earmarking and recovering numerous relevant artefacts, despite limited resources and the lack of premises in which to display them. Some aspects of his efforts are recorded in 'The North Western Museum of Science and Industry, Some Reminiscences' by Richard L. Hills, available online:-
https://library.chethams.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/09/north_western_museum_of_science_and_industry.pdf
Although I’d always been interested in engineering, the range and depth of my interests was markedly boosted by visits to MoSI. In fact I can identify one item in particular that was pivotal in turning an interest in old machinery into something of an obsession: it was a now-rare rope-driven overhead travelling crane by Craven Bros, whose mechanical workings were satisfyingly intriguing, and could be observed from a gallery above.
I mention this crane because when I visited the museum I few weeks ago, I was shocked to find that MoSI have decided to close the entire gallery containing the crane and other well-chosen displays relating to electric power, gas, and sewers.
I learned of Dr Hills’s death in the latest copy of the Newcomen Society's ‘Newcomen Links’ (June 2019), which contains two obituaries by people who knew him well.
Perhaps surprisingly, his background was not in industry. He studied classics and went to Cambridge University, and had a period in the Royal Artillery, before becoming a teacher, and then a museum professional.
At school one of his classics teachers, who had been a member of the 1953 expedition which conquered Everest, nurtured an enduring interest in mountaineering, which nearly ended badly.
He also benefited from the school’s workshop, which gave him a good grounding, especially for setting up his own home metal and wood-working workshop. I wonder how many schoolkids are allowed to touch such machinery nowadays? Another of his interests was his 1924 Lancia Lambda, which he had for over 50 years.
In the 1980s he was ordained as a priest, and susbsequently divided his time between the church and industrial history.
One of his friends described him as a very modest, quiet and shy man.
I never met him, but over the last couple of years I contacted him by email with a variety of queries. He always responded to my queries quickly and enthusiastically. On several occasions, when he needed to explain things with sketches, he sent hand-written letters, and apologised for his handwriting, which by then was slightly impaired by Parkinson’s disease. When I was puzzled by practical aspects of John Ericsson's curious bellows-blown steam boilers, Richard was the only person I knew who had been involved in the construction, testing, and operation of a replica Braithwaite & Ericsson 1829 'Novelty' locomotive!
