Hilhouse

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Hilhouse
TypePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding, Shipowner
Founded1772
Defunct1845
FateClosed
SuccessorYard taken over by Charles Hill & Sons
HeadquartersRiver Avon, UK
Key people
J.M. Hilhouse (founder),
George Hilhouse (son),
Charles Hill

Hilhouse (also spelled Hillhouse) was a shipbuilder in Bristol, England, who built merchantman and men-of-war during the 18th and 19th centuries. The company subsequently became Charles Hill & Sons in 1845.[1]

The company, and its successor Charles Hill & Sons, were the most important shipbuilders in Bristol,[2] and taking the concern together built over 560 ships over their 200 years of existence.

History[]

Origins[]

HMS Cleopatra, launched by James Martin Hilhouse on 26 November 1779, as depicted by Nicholas Pocock.
Silhouette of the ship-of-the-line Nassau launched on 28 September 1785 by Hilhouse in Bristol.

The shipbuilding concern Hilhouse and Company was first established in 1772[3] by James Martin Hilhouse (1749–1822),[4] after inheriting a fortune from his father, James Hilhouse, a Bristol Sheriff and councillor who also ran a successful privateering venture. The company acquired the large Hotwells drydock, built by the engineer William Champion in 1765 on the north side of the River Avon, to build merchantman and undertake ship repair work. From 1778, Hilhouse secured Admiralty contracts for warships following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, including for the fourth rate Trusty.[5]

On 28 September 1785, Hilhouse launched the 1,406 tonne 64-gun Ardent-class ship of the line Nassau, which was the largest ship yet built in Bristol.[6] By 1786 they had built twelve warships of 3rd to 6th rates before orders became dominated by merchantmen.

Hilhouse and Company-built ships[]

Major ships built by Hilhouse and Company:

  • Exeter (1776), 300 t West Indiaman.
  • Medea (1778). 611 t 28-gun sixth-rate frigate.
  • Cleopatra (1779). 689 t 32-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Crescent (1779). 689 t 28-gun sixth-rate frigate.
  • Mars (1779). 600 t privateer frigate.
  • Termagant (1780). 26-gun sloop.
  • Arethusa (1781). 948 t 38-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Trusty (1782). 1,000 t 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line.
  • Serapis (1782). 900 t 44-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Charon (1783). 900 t 44-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Nassau (1785). 1,200 t 64-gun third-rate ship of the line.
  • Melampus (1785). 939 t 36-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Severn (1786). 900 t 44-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Pilgrim (1786). 306 t merchant vessel.
  • Marquis of Worcester (1787). 315 t merchant vessel.
  • Diomede (1795). 891 t 44-gun fifth-rate frigate.
  • Fame. 492 t (bm) Intended as a West Indiaman but employed as an East Indiaman.
  • Hope (1801). 216 t merchant vessel.
  • Concord (1801). 317 t merchant vessel.

Hilhouse & Sons-built ships[]

In 1803 the company became Hilhouse & Sons and Company[1] and expansion continued. By 1810, Charles Hill had joined the firm, and Hilhouse had acquired two further dockyards in city,[6] Wapping dockyard, near Prince Street in 1813, and Limekiln Dock, on Gasferry Lane on the north side of the river in 1820. In 1814 the company built the first steamboat in Bristol, the Charlotte and Hope.[7] In 1820 the company developed New Dockyard opposite the original site at Hotwells, what was to become the Albion Yard, and built two wet docks, a dry dock and building berths. This lead within 4 years to the closure of both the Wapping and Hotwells Dockyards.[6] The West Indiaman Weare of 446 t was the first launch from the Albion Yard in 1820.

During the 1830s and 1840s William Patterson launched the ground-breaking Great Western and Great Britain steamships in the adjacent Bristol dockyard, and the company subsequently lost out on important subsequent orders.[6]

French frigates Cybèle and Prudente battling HMS Centurion and the Hilhouse-built HMS Diomede (in the centre), on 17 December 1794
The site of the Hilhouse built Albion Yard today, now occupied by Abels Shipbuilders and Baltic Wharf Marina

Major ships built by Hilhouse & Sons and Company:

  • Albacore (1804). 18-gun sloop-of-war.
  • St Vincent (1804). 493 t West Indiaman.
  • Fame (1805). 401 t merchant vessel.
  • Nelson (1807). 580 t West Indiaman.
  • Severn (1806 ship). 478 t merchant vessel.
  • William Miles (1808). 577 t West Indiaman.
  • Lady Carrington (1809 ship). 471 t merchant vessel; 564 t East Indiaman.
  • Sarah (1810). 500 t West Indiaman.
  • Charlotte (1810). 427 t West Indiaman.
  • Bernard (1813). 468 t merchant vessel.
  • Princess Charlotte (1813). 411 t merchant vessel.
  • Charlotte and Hope (1814). Wooden paddle-wheel steamer.
  • Kingston (1817). 431 t merchant vessel.
  • Henry Porcher (1817 ship). 485 t East Indiaman.
  • Woodford (1819 ship) 544 t (bm), merchant vessel
  • Weare (1820). 446 t West Indiaman.
  • George IV (1821). 135 t wooden paddle-wheel steamer.
  • Viscount Palmerston (1821). 188 t wooden paddle-wheel steamer.
  • Hero (1823). 402 t merchant vessel.
  • Elphinstone (1825). 420 t merchant vessel.
  • Lord William Bentinck (1828), 564 tons (bm), made one voyage for the British East India Company and one voyage transporting convicts to Tasmania. Wrecked with great loss of life at Bombay on 20 June 1840.
  • Reliance, 337 t, wrecked 1836.
  • Elizabeth (1832). 445 t merchant vessel.
  • Orestes (1835). 529 t East Indiaman.
  • Princess Royal (1841). 462 t merchant vessel.
  • Duke of Cornwall (1843). 505 t merchant vessel.
  • Manuela (1843). 348 t barque, the last ship built by Hilhouse.

Enter Charles Hill[]

In 1824 the company became George Hilhouse & Company, and the following year a young shipwright by the name of Charles Hill became a partner, eventually leading in 1840 to the name of the business becoming Hilhouse, Hill & Company.[6] Charles Hill subsequently took over running more and more of the business, and in 1845 he took sole control of the business and the firm became Charles Hill & Sons.

The Hilhouse built Albion Yard has continued in use up until this day, as Abels Shipbuilders to 2016, and later reopening as Albion Dock.[8]

Bristol Shipyards with the various locations of Hilhouse highlighted. They operated five different sites in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Portraits[]

A pair of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. James Martin Hilhouse by Thomas Hudson were once owned by American preservationist Jim Williams. They hung in the dining room of his Mercer House home, until they were sold at a Sotheby's auction by his sister in 2000, ten years after Williams' death.[9][10]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b "The Story of Charles Hill & Sons". Memories of Bristol England Past & Present. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
  2. ^ Farr, Graeme (1977). Shipbuilding in the Port of Bristol National Maritime Museum Maritime Monographs and Reports. p3
  3. ^ "Charles Hill and Sons". Grace's Guides. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
  4. ^ "James Martin Hilhouse (1749-1822): Ships for the Navy" - Bristol Museum
  5. ^ Winfield, Rif (2005). The 50-Gun Ship A Complete History Mercury Books. ISBN 1-84560-009-6. pp. 58-61
  6. ^ a b c d e Hill, John (1981). Shipshape & Bristol Fashion. Bristol: Redcliffe. ISBN 0-905459-70-9. various
  7. ^ "The Albion Dockyard". Bristol Railway Archive. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
  8. ^ History - Albion Dock Company, March 7, 2021
  9. ^ "The Furnishings: Mercer House" - The Devoted Classicist, December 16, 2011
  10. ^ "MERCER HOUSE, SAVANNAH. THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE JAMES A. WILLIAMS. CONTENTS TO BE SOLD BY SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK ON OCTOBER 20" - Sothebys

References[]

Hillhouse, Helen T. & Laurens Petigru (1959) Hillhouse.

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