Hilhouse (also spelled ''Hillhouse'') was a

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, who built

merchantman A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...

and

men-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed w ...

during the 18th and 19th centuries. The company subsequently became

Charles Hill & Sons Charles Hill & Sons was a major shipbuilder based in Bristol, England, during the 19th and 20th centuries. Background Established in 1845 from the company Hilhouse, they specialised mainly in merchant and commercial ships, but also undertook th ...

in 1845. The company, and its successor Charles Hill & Sons, were the most important shipbuilders in Bristol, and taking the concern together built over 560 ships over their 200 years of existence.

History

Origins

The shipbuilding concern Hilhouse and Company was first established in 1772 by James Martin Hilhouse (1749–1822), after inheriting a fortune from his father, James Hilhouse, a Bristol Sheriff and

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

who also ran a successful

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

ing venture. The company acquired the large Hotwells

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

, built by the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

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 Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

contracts for

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

s following the outbreak of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, including for the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

''Trusty''. On 28 September 1785, Hilhouse launched the 1,406 tonne 64-gun , which was the largest ship yet built in Bristol.Hill, John (1981). ''Shipshape & Bristol Fashion''. Bristol: Redcliffe. . various 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 tons ( bm)

West Indiaman West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...

. *''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'' (1778). 611 tons (bm) 28-gun sixth-rate frigate. *'' Cleopatra'' (1779). 689 tons (bm) 32-gun

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

frigate. *''

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

'' (1779). 689 tons (bm) 28-gun sixth-rate frigate. *''Mars'' (1779). 600 tons (bm) privateer frigate. *''Termagant'' (1780). 26-gun sloop. * ''Arethusa'' (1781). 948 tons (bm) 38-gun fifth-rate frigate. * ''Trusty'' (1782). 1,000 tons (bm) 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line. * ''Serapis'' (1782). 900 tons (bm) 44-gun fifth-rate frigate. *''Charon'' (1783). 900 tons (bm) 44-gun fifth-rate frigate. * ''Nassau'' (1785). 1,200 tons (bm) 64-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ship of the line. * ''Melampus'' (1785). 939 tons (bm) 36-gun fifth-rate frigate. * ''Severn'' (1786). 900 tons (bm) 44-gun fifth-rate frigate. *''Pilgrim'' (1786). 306 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Marquis of Worcester'' (1787). 315 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Diomede'' (1795). 891 tons (bm) 44-gun fifth-rate frigate. * . 492 tons (bm) Intended as a West Indiaman but employed as an East Indiaman. * ''Hope'' (1801). 216 tons (bm) merchant vessel. * ''Concord'' (1801). 317 tons (bm) merchant vessel.

Hilhouse & Sons-built ships

In 1803 the company became Hilhouse & Sons and Company and expansion continued. By 1810, Charles Hill had joined the firm, and Hilhouse had acquired two further dockyards in city, Wapping dockyard, near Prince Street in 1813, and

Limekiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take pl ...

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''. In 1820 the company developed New Dockyard opposite the original site at Hotwells, what was to become the Albion Yard, and built two

wet dock Wet may refer to: * Moisture, the condition of containing liquid or being covered or saturated in liquid * Wetting (or wetness), a measure of how well a liquid sticks to a solid rather than forming a sphere on the surface Wet or WET may also refe ...

s, a dry dock and building berths. This lead within 4 years to the closure of both the Wapping and Hotwells Dockyards. 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 and steamships in the adjacent Bristol dockyard, and the company subsequently lost out on important subsequent orders. Major ships built by Hilhouse & Sons and Company: * (1804). 18-gun sloop-of-war. *''St Vincent'' (1804). 493 tons (bm) West Indiaman. *''Fame'' (1805). 401 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Nelson'' (1807). 580 tons (bm) West Indiaman. *. 478 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *, 577 tons (bm) West Indiaman. *. 471 tons (bm) merchant vessel; 564 tons (bm) East Indiaman. *, 500 tons (bm) West Indiaman. *''Charlotte'' (1810). 427 tons (bm) West Indiaman. *''Bernard'' (1813). 468 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Princess Charlotte'' (1813). 411 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Charlotte and Hope'' (1814). Wooden

paddle-wheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

. *''Kingston'' (1817). 431 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *. 485 t East Indiaman. * 544 tons (bm) (bm), merchant vessel *''Weare'' (1820). 446 tons (bm) West Indiaman. *''George IV'' (1821). 135 tons (bm) wooden paddle-wheel steamer. *''Viscount Palmerston'' (1821). 188 tons (bm) wooden paddle-wheel steamer. *''Hero'' (1823). 402 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Elphinstone'' (1825). 420 tons (bm) merchant vessel. * (1828), 564 tons (bm), made one voyage for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

and one voyage transporting convicts to Tasmania. Wrecked with great loss of life at Bombay on 20 June 1840. *, 337 tons (bm), wrecked 1836. *''Elizabeth'' (1832). 445 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Orestes'' (1835). 529 tons (bm) East Indiaman. *''Princess Royal'' (1841). 462 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Duke of Cornwall'' (1843). 505 tons (bm) merchant vessel. *''Manuela'' (1843). 348 tons (bm)

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

, 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 Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

, eventually leading in 1840 to the name of the business becoming Hilhouse, Hill & Company. 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

. The Hilhouse built Albion Yard has continued in use up until this day, as Abels Shipbuilders to 2016, and later reopening as Albion Dock.History - Albion Dock Company
March 7, 2021 Bristol Shipyards - Hilhouse

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 Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction by his sister in 2000, ten years after Williams' death."The Furnishings: Mercer House"
- The Devoted Classicist, December 16, 2011"MERCER HOUSE, SAVANNAH. THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE JAMES A. WILLIAMS. CONTENTS TO BE SOLD BY SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK ON OCTOBER 20"
- Sothebys

Notes

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References

Hillhouse, Helen T. & Laurens Petigru (1959) ''Hillhouse''. Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Companies established in 1772 Defunct companies based in Bristol