Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Shipbuilding, Shipowner |
Founded | 1772 |
Defunct | 1845 |
Fate | Closed |
Successor | Yard taken over by Charles Hill & Sons |
Headquarters | River 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.
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.
Major ships built by Hilhouse and Company:
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]
Major ships built by Hilhouse & Sons and Company:
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]
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]
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of 70 acres. It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out permanently. A tidal by-pass was dug for 2 miles through the fields of Bedminster for the river, known as the "River Avon New Cut", "New Cut", or simply "The Cut". It is often called the Floating Harbour as the water level remains constant and it is not affected by the state of the tide on the river in the Avon Gorge, The New Cut or the natural river southeast of Temple Meads to its source.
East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vessels belonging to the Austrian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese or Swedish companies.
Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987.
Francis Baylie was a shipbuilder based in Bristol, England, during the 17th century, a well established merchant shipbuilder who also built warships for the English Royal Navy.
Abels Shipbuilders Ltd was a ship and boat builder in Bristol, England. In addition to boat building, the company branched out into architectural sculptures, tidal energy and marine restoration, but closed in 2016.
Several ships have been named after Bombay :
Sydenham Teast (1755–1813) was a Quaker merchant, fur-trader, shipbuilder and shipowner based in Bristol, England, during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The 1719 Establishment was a set of mandatory requirements governing the construction of all Royal Navy warships capable of carrying more than 20 naval long guns. It was designed to bring economies of scale through uniform vessel design, and ensure a degree of certainty about vessel capability once at sea, and was applied to all vessels from the first-rate to the fifth-rate. Once in effect, it superseded the 1706 Establishment, which had specified major dimensions for ships of the second-rate, third-rate and fourth-rate only.
Pyronaut is a specialised form of fireboat known as a fire-float. It was built in 1934 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dock Bristol, Yard No. 208. Registered number 333833. She is owned by Bristol Museums and based at M Shed in Bristol's Floating Harbour.
Four ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Euphrates, after the Euphrates river. Another three were planned but never completed:
The Roebuck-class ship was a class of twenty 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy. The class carried two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 9-pounders. This battery enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 285 pounds. Most were constructed for service during the American Revolutionary War but continued to serve thereafter. By 1793 five were still on the active list. Ten were hospital ships, troopships or storeships. As troopships or storeships they had the guns on their lower deck removed. Many of the vessels in the class survived to take part in the Napoleonic Wars. In all, maritime incidents claimed five ships in the class and war claimed three.
Charles Hill & Sons was a major shipbuilder based in Bristol, England, during the 19th and 20th centuries.
A number of vessels have been named Alexander:
Four vessels with the name Hastings have served the East India Company (EIC), one on contract as an East Indiaman, one brig of the Bombay Pilot Service, one ship of the line, and one frigate of the Company's Bombay Marine.
Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.
HMS Glenmore was a 36-gun Amazon-class frigate designed by William Rule for the Royal Navy. Tweed had been the intended name when she was laid down in March of 1795 but this was changed before her launch in March 1796. A fifth rate, the ship carried a main battery of twenty-six 18-pounder (8.2-kilogram) long guns on her gun deck.
Several ships have been named Euphrates for the Euphrates River:
Tartar was launched at Bristol in 1778. Initially she sailed, with some success, as a privateer. Then in 1781 she became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage as an enslaving ship; French naval vessels captured Tartar on her second enslaving voyage.
Hillhouse, Helen T. & Laurens Petigru (1959) Hillhouse.