Sidney Hill


Sidney Hill, born Simon Sidney Hill, was a Methodist, merchant, philanthropist, gentleman farmer, and justice of the peace. From modest beginnings he made his fortune as a colonial and general merchant who pioneered trade from South Africa. He supported and endowed almshouses in Churchill and Lower Langford, and manses for Methodist clergy at Banwell and Cheddar. He built Methodist churches at Port Elizabeth, Sandford, Shipham and Blagdon besides the Wesley [|Methodist chapel] and school at Churchill. Many of his charitable foundations still survive.

Early life

Sidney Hill was born on, at Berkeley Place in Clifton, Bristol, the fifth and youngest son of Thomas Hill, a former master sweep and soot merchant, and his wife, Elizabeth, née James. He was baptised at St James' Priory, Bristol on 1 November 1829, and educated at Portway House boarding school, located between Victoria Park and Partis College, in Weston, Bath.
Hill's father, Thomas, was apprenticed as a climbing boy from the age of eight, serving from 1787 to 1798 before joining the Royal Marines at Devonport, Plymouth. He left the navy after four years, returned to sweeping, but left it again to earn a living as a labourer in Devonport Dockyard. He returned to sweeping again in 1811 and followed it until his retirement. He was also a foreman to the Clifton Norwich Union Fire Insurance Office for twelve years, until one of his other sons took over the role.
Thomas Hill died on when Sidney Hill was just seventeen years old. In September 1847, Hill joined Sunday Methodist society clasess, led by William Bobbett, at the Old Market Street chapel in Bristol. It was there that Hill converted to Methodism and met his life-long friends Thomas Francis Christopher May and William Hunt of Clifton.

Life as a merchant

Early years

Described as a delicate boy, Sidney Hill did not follow in his father's soot business, although two of his brothers did carry on the business. When he came of age, he inherited money from his father's estate that he used to open a small linen draper shop at Berkeley Place, Clifton. The business grew and he moved to larger premises at 7 Byron Place, Lower Berkeley Place, Clifton.. However, by 1856 he was not in good health and his doctor advised him to travel to a country with a warmer climate. Hill sold the drapery business and embarked on a sea voyage to New Zealand, but when the ship berthed at Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, he decided to remain in South Africa. Unfortunately, the first letter he received there informed him of the death of his mother on.
In 1857, Hill opened a dry goods store at Port Elizabeth, and in 1859, went into partnership with William Savage. Savage was the son of a former paper maker and stationer in Lewes, East Sussex. He had arrived in Port Elizabeth around 1849 and started a business selling stationery and hardware. Their partnership, Savage & Hill, Colonial and General Merchants, began trading commodities from 95 and 97 Main Street in Port Elizabeth. They traded in anything from household hardware, refined sugar, ammunition, minerals, to ostrich feathers for the fashion trade and haberdashery industry. The bulk of their trade was transacted from Port Elizabeth, but as the business prospered, branches were opened in the principal towns of the Cape Colony and in the Colony of Natal.

Marriage

In 1864, Hill returned to London to direct the firm's large shipping interests from their offices at 41 Bow Lane, Cheapside, London. On 15 June 1864, he married Mary Ann Bobbett at the Wesleyan Chapel, Churchill, Somerset. The Reverend William Shaw Caldecott was Hill's best man, and later, the author of [|Mary Ann's memorial sketch]. Mary Ann was born on, the eldest daughter of John Winter Bobbett and Frances, née Doubting. John Winter Bobbett was a baker and corn and flour dealer, in partnership with his brother William Bobbett, at W. and J. W. Bobbett, on West Street, Old Market, Bristol. He was an active radical Liberal in his earlier years, a Quaker, and a former guardian of the Clifton Union.
In 1849, Mary Ann was sent to school; first to the Quaker Friends' Boarding School at Sidcot, near the village of Winscombe, Somerset, and then to a finishing school, the Quaker Mount School in York. She was away from home for five years, and when she returned to Bristol, she became a housekeeper for her uncle, William Bobbett, at West Street, Bristol. Hill had met her a number of years before, when he had been invited to Sunday tea at Bristol, and then at Sidney Villa in Dinghurst, Churchill, after William Bobbett had moved there in 1859, following his retirement on 2 July 1859. They shared a staunch belief in the work of the Wesleyan Church, and this would influence much of their life, particularly Hill's later years after he purchased the Langford estate.

Life in South Africa

They spent six months in London before Hill’s business took them back to South Africa, departing England on 10 February 1865 for a month-long voyage to Port Elizabeth. Savage & Hill prospered after the growth of trade at Port Elizabeth following the discovery of diamonds at Griqualand West in 1870, and the subsequent completion of the railway to Kimberley, Northern Cape, in 1873. With the rapid expansion of the Cape Colony's railway network to the interior over the following years, the harbour of Port Elizabeth became the focus for serving import and export needs of a large area of the Cape's hinterland.
Despite being engaged in an expanding business, Hill found time for furthering the work of the Wesleyan Methodist church at Port Elizabeth, occupying the offices of superintendent of the Sunday school, class leader, and chapel and circuit steward. In April 1870, Hill gave £550 towards the construction of the original Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Russell Road, Port Elizabeth.

Death of wife

Around 1870, Mary Ann was diagnosed with tuberculosis in her left lung. With her health failing they left South Africa for England on 8 April 1874. They decided to winter in Bournemouth due to the mild climate there, but after only five weeks' residence, she died at 5:38pm on. She was buried at Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol. In 1881, her remains were removed from Arnos Vale and reinterred at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Churchill, that was built in her memory in 1880.

Later life

Return to England

In mourning, Hill returned to South Africa, but could not settle, and in June 1876, he decided to find somewhere to live near Churchill, close to his friend William Bobbett. In mid-1877, Langford House, Lower Langford, came on to the market after the owner, William Turner, had died on. Hill purchased the estate and took up residence at the end of October 1877. The estate included of parkland, of orchards, of arable land, stabling, and two adjacent, semi-detached houses in Langford village, known as Mendip Villa and Richmond House.
Hill retired from commercial life after dissolving the Savage & Hill partnership on 1 November 1881. At that point, he had accumulated considerable wealth, and consequently, was able to spend a substantial amount of money making improvements to Langford House. He re-modelled the house, added a belvedere tower in Italianate style, and decorated the interior in typical Victorian style with dark paint and panelling. In 1891, a clock tower was built above the coach house and a gilt turret clock and carillon installed in November of that year. He installed a conservatory and greenhouses, constructed in teak, to provide all the bedding and house plants for the estate.

Stock breeding

Hill took up a new life as a gentleman farmer, adding stables to the estate, a dairy and Langford Bullock Palaces for his prized Red Scotch Shorthorn cattle. He was well-known as a breeder of pedigree shorthorn cattle, Southdown sheep, hackney and shire horses. In 1881, he laid the foundation for his herd by purchasing two pedigree Dairy Shorthorns cows, Minerva and Irony, and the pedigree bull Oswald 50118, from Richard Stratton of Duffryn, Newport. However, by 1892 the herd had outgrown their accommodation, and they were sold at auction. Between 1897 and 1898, Hill purchased six cows, that included the pedigree cow Lavender Gem, and her heifer calf Lavender Wreath. The two cows had many offspring, several of which were show prize winners. The whole of the herd was of Scottish origin, apart from some shorthorns purchased from Joseph Dean Willis of Bapton on 30 July 1897. The herd was dispersed shortly after Hill’s death, in an auction held at Langford House on 10 September 1908.

Furthering the work of the church

Hill did much to further the work of the Methodist church in Somerset and help those in need. In memory of his wife, he built the Memorial Wesleyan Methodist Church and Sunday school at Churchill. He also vested in trustees a large sum of money to provide an income for the maintenance of the chapel and schoolroom. In 1887, he built Victoria Jubilee Homes, and gifted a farm and lands at Congresbury, to provide for repairs and maintenance. Later, in memory of his friend William Bobbett, he built a Methodist chapel at Shipham.
From the 1890s, many Methodists had come from the North of England to be employed at the paper mills in Redcliffe Street, Cheddar, and from South Wales at the shirt factories located in the Cheddar Gorge. Around the mid-1890s, Methodist society leaders at Cheddar, Somerset, began to see the need for larger and more convenient premises. Hill was approached, and two cottages, and the garden and orchard behind the existing chapel, were purchased. Then came a manse to replace the one at Axbridge, two ministers' houses on the Worle Road, Banwell, and a furnished chapel at Cheddar. All of these were gifted by Hill including the furnishings for a schoolroom that was created by converting the old chapel. His final act was to build, furnish, and endow twelve [|Wesleyan Cottage Homes] at Churchill.

Other charitable acts

Although a life-long Methodist, Hill helped a number of other Christian institutions such as contributing to Churchill Parish Church funds, donating £100 to the building of All Saints Church, Sandford, and gifting a stained glass window to Axbridge parish church after its restoration in 1887. Hill would also help people directly: He would notice those needing help and make enquiries about them. A note would be given to them to take to the post office in Churchill. The two upstairs rooms were full of household items provided by Langford House. Arthur Carter, the owner of the post office, would follow the instructions in the note and supply blankets, boots, food or whatever was required. At Christmas, children who attended the Methodist Sunday school were given a set of clothes each and the contents of each parcel were noted so that the same things were not included for the following Christmas. Hill was also a long-term supporter of the Bristol Hospital for Sick Children and Women, and would visit the hospital at Christmas, giving money to each patient and nurse.

Public life

On 11 June 1885, Hill was elected a fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, and by May 1886, he was a steward of the Infant Orphanage Asylum. He was a Liberal in politics and was selected as a vice-president of the Wells Liberal Association on 20 May 1886. On 19 October 1886, he was made a justice of the peace for Somerset and served on the Axbridge bench for over 20 years. From 1887, he served as the vice-president of the Weston-super-Mare and East Somerset Horticultural society, and in January of the following year, he accepted the office of president of the society. By January 1890, he had been elected to the Council of the Imperial Federation League. He took lead positions amongst the Wesleyans of the Bristol and Bath district, representing the district at church synods and conferences.
Hill also undertook parish responsibilities such as president of the Churchill football and cricket clubs. He lent a field free of charge for their use and contributed to the finances of each club. He was an organiser for the Jubilee and Coronation celebrations that were hosted in the grounds of Langford House. On 7 February 1899, he was elected vice-president of the Wrington and District Fanciers' Association.

Death and burial

After returning from church on 26 January 1908, at about 4:00 pm, Hill slipped while walking across the Langford House hallway, fracturing his thigh. His thigh seemed to be healing and the splints were removed after four weeks. However, more serious complications developed; influenza followed by pneumonia, and he died at 11:45am on.
His funeral was held at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Churchill, on 10 March 1908, at 2:00pm. Despite the cold and windy weather that day, hundreds of people attended from Churchill, Langford, Wrington, and many other villages: Such were the number of mourners that the service had to be held outside the Methodist chapel. The outdoor staff of the Langford House estate, which included the nine gardeners, headed the funeral’s foot procession. The coffin bore the inscription "Simon Sidney Hill, born October 1st, 1829, died March 3rd, 1908" and he was interred in the same grave as his wife.
A memorial service was held at the Methodist Chapel, Cheddar, in the evening of 15 March 1908, and was conducted by Henry John Stockbridge.

Legacy

Langford House was later left to Hill’s nephew Thomas James Hill, but he only lived there for four years before his death on 9 February 1912. The terms of the will were that the next beneficiary was James Alfred Hill, another nephew, but he had died at Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa, on, so the occupancy was taken up by a great-nephew, Thomas Sidney Hill. Thomas Sidney Hill died on, and two years later, the Commissioners of Crown Land bought Langford House, and in 1948 the University of Bristol founded the School of Veterinary Science. Nevertheless, many of Hill's charitable works still survive today; Victoria Jubilee Langford Homes and the Sidney Hill Churchill Wesleyan Cottage Homes are registered charities providing housing for local people in need.
Hill's memory lives on in the rich legacy of buildings that he erected, but he meant more than this to the many late-19th century poor; to many he was the difference between life and death, good health and sickness. The late Ronald Henry Bailey, a former editor of the Weston-super-Mare Mercury newspaper, and an authority on Mendip folklore and other antiquarian matters, described Hill as:
Sidney Hill put into practice the beliefs of Wesley; to lead a healthy life doing good, feeding and clothing those in need, earning, saving and giving all he could, seeking justice for all. Furthermore, many of his charitable acts honoured the memory of his late wife, Mary Ann, a devout Methodist, whom he missed deeply after her early death. Nonetheless, Hill's wealth came from trade with southern Africa and it is not certain to what extent his fortune was amassed at the expense of others. On balance, however, it is thought likely that his business dealings as a merchant were without reproach. Certainly, it is clear, that whatever his attitudes as a younger man, he later shared his wealth with the less fortunate.

Philanthropic works

Sidney Hill was prolific in works for the public benefit. He built and endowed the Queen Victoria Memorial Homes in Langford, to benefit those who could not afford to rent decent and safe accommodation. He built several Wesleyan churches, Sunday schools, and ministers' houses in this country and in South Africa, and also furnished and endowed a mother's house for Homes for Little Boys at Swanley, Kent. His final act to benefit the poor was to build, furnish, and endow twelve Wesleyan cottage homes at Churchill.

Arms

were granted and confirmed in 1882. According to Fox-Davies in Armorial Families, Hill bore:
Stone in The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations, translates the motto, Omne bonum Dei donum, as "Every good thing is a gift of God" and is taken from James, chapter 1, verse 17.

Footnotes

''Books and journals''

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