Hill House

• History of Charles Hill and his family
  
  Hill House   was built in 1907 for Charles Edwin James Hill (1832-1918), a hatmaker, who established a well-known millinery business in Wellington (now Hills Hats Ltd) that survives to this day. He was also the patriarch of a remarkably talented family. 
  
  The Hills were longstanding hatmakers. Charles Hill was the grandson of Isaac Hill b. 1784, who made straw bonnets at a time when every woman wore one. He established the business of James Hill  and Sons Ltd., Millinery and Fancy Warehousemen. His son Isaac took over the business and his eldest son was Charles. When only 21, in 1853, Charles married Eliza Ann Hulbert (c1831-1905), who was a year older than him. He immediately left for Australia, but without his bride. 
  
  Once in Australia Charles Hill found work, not as a hatmaker, but as a musician in a travelling group. Music was his great love and this was the only time in his life he made a living from it. Once he resumed hatmaking, in Melbourne, his wife joined him. Their first son, Charles John, was born in 1855. John William was born in 1857 and then the family suddenly immigrated to Kansas, America. The move was a disaster and they returned to Australia, but with no capital left. On the return Edwin John was born. Back in Melbourne Charles returned to hatmaking. He established his own business in Richmond and in 1870 his son Alfred, a musician and composer and the most famous of his offspring, was born. 
  
  Eliza Hill never liked Australia – she lost two infant children, Ada and George, during their time in Melbourne – and encouraged by glowing stories about New Zealand, she persuaded Charles to move to Auckland in 1872. Two of Eliza’s uncles, also hat makers, were already in business in Auckland. Charles Hill opened a business of his own and in 1872 Mabel was born. Charles bought land for farming, but never took it up. Eventually it was sold for a profit. In 1875 the family moved to Wellington, the last major move Charles and Eliza made. The previous 20 years had been characterised by a marked restlessness.
  
  Once in Wellington Charles, now 43 and with adult sons of his own, opened Charles Hill and Sons on Lambton Quay. They rented premises and lived above the shop and workshop but soon found larger premises nearby, but still on Lambton Quay. The family later moved to a large house in Willis Street, then to Oriental Bay about 1885. The hat shop was later located in its own purpose-built premises (date built unknown) and it was still standing in 1980 (the site is now occupied by Capital on the Quay). The building’s pediment contained the moniker “C. Hill and Sons, Hat and Cap Manufacturers”. 
  
  The business was a profitable and longstanding success. In November 1885 the firm styled itself as “Hatters, hosiers and glovers” and had branches in Napier, Nelson and Wanganui.   It was Wellington’s pre-eminent women’s millinery. Through its association with the shop the building was a considerable landmark in its own right and, during the late 19th and half of the 20th century, few Wellington women did not own a hat from Hills. The company sold its finished products in its own stores but it also sold to small drapery stores, local sports clubs and clothing manufacturers. Most of its raw materials were purchased from overseas companies.   By the 1920s the firm was styled as “Hat manufacturers and hosiers”.   The company was sold about 1955. It relocated to Porirua and traded as Hill’s Hats Ltd. It was sold to Singaporean interests in 1997. 
  
  
  It is not known when Charles Hill senior retired but he was succeeded by his son Charles, who, in between his long involvement in the family business, was a noted flautist and singer. He had a house in Maarama Crescent for a considerable period. Other family members, such as William Robert, possibly a grandson, were involved in the firm by the 1920s. 
  
  Music was central to the life of the Hill family and every member of the family could play or sing. Charles (Snr) formed a family band and everyone played in it. Most juggled their music with other careers but Charles had the means to send Alfred and his brother John to study music in Leipzig, Germany. 
  
  The family’s closeness was exemplified by their housing arrangements. After Charles Hill bought his land in Island Bay, several members of the family acquired property from him and built houses there.  The earliest of these was William, who bought land in 1903 (see below). He was soon followed by John, who worked for the Government and was not involved in the business, and Alfred, by then described as a professor of music.  All three lived side by side in Melrose Street at one end of the block of land Charles (Snr) purchased.  The three houses remained in the family’s hands for a lengthy period.  Alfred Hill’s estranged wife Sadie, for instance, stayed on in their house after he moved to Sydney in 1910.  
  
  Alfred, on the back of his musical education, went on to become one of Australasia’s greatest early composers, musicians and conductors. He spent the greater part of his working life in Sydney but is recognised on both sides of the Tasman for his contribution to the development of musical life in both countries. Other members of the family became prominent citizens. Older brother Edwin (1860-1960) worked in the family business but he also made a career out of music, primarily as a singer in Nelson and Wellington. He later took up bowls with great enthusiasm and some success. Mabel McIndoe (nee Hill) (1872-1956) was a well-known artist and a contemporary of Frances Hodgkins. She married Dunedin printer John McIndoe and one of her children was Archibald McIndoe, the famous pioneering plastic surgeon.   She died in England in 1956. 
  
  Another characteristic of the Hill family worthy of note is that, once they survived infancy, they lived long lives. Charles Hill was 87 when he died, Edwin was 100, Alfred 90 and Mabel 84. 
  
  History of the house
  
  Charles Hill was already an elderly man when he built his house in Melbourne Road. The family had occupied at least four houses previously in Wellington and at the time of his move, Charles was living in Ingestre Street (later Vivian Street). On the back of the success of his business, Charles Hill bought a large parcel of land in Island Bay, although exactly when is not yet known. It was certainly in his hands by 1903. Rectangular in shape, and bounded by Melbourne Road to the west, Melrose Street to the north, Albert Street to the east and Liffey Crescent to the south, it was comprised of 14 one acre sections. The land was shown as subdivided on early certificates of title and, later, DP 6574, but it remained mostly owned by Charles Hill until his death in 1919. The only other substantial house was on a section fronting Melrose Street, sold to John Hill in 1903. There were subsequent sales to family members but other than that there was little development of the land before his death; even by 1924 there were only four houses on the land.   
  
  Charles Hill built his new house on the corner of Liffey Crescent and Melbourne Road – not then a formed road – in 1907.   Although the suburb was developing quickly, and the electric tramway had opened two years earlier, it was still something of an outlying ‘country’ or ‘seaside’ suburb. There were houses a block away on Melrose Street – all owned by the family – and some on surrounding land to the south and east but Charles Hills’ house was comparatively isolated. No architect’s name is on the drawings so the house may have been designed and constructed by the builder, Murdoch and Wallis. The house’s ‘Australian’ appearance may have been influenced by the considerable period - 17 years - the Hills lived across the Tasman. 
  
  The extent of Charles Hill’s occupation of his house is in some doubt.  One street directory (Stone’s) suggests he occupied the house continuously for 12 years. Wises New Zealand Post Office Directory suggests a series of tenants from 1909 to 1914. This is part caused by the house’s address, which did not become Melbourne Road until at least (in the case of Stone’s) 1913.  Prior to that Charles Hill was listed either at Liffey Street or Adelaide Road (at a time when it continued on to Island Bay). He was certainly living in the house when he died in 1919, by which time Eliza Hill had also died. Sole possession of the house was taken by their eldest daughter Minnie Eliza Hill (1867-1928), described as a spinster. 
  
  Following Charles Hill’s death his estate was divided up, presumably as a result of the terms of his will, although the first transaction did not take place until his property formally passed to his executors – Edwin Hill and James Tripe, solicitor – in 1923.   Various family members benefited, but lots were also sold to private individuals, the last in 1943. It was as one of these transactions that Minnie Hill acquired the family house and the land surrounding it, which was later subdivided. 
  
  Minnie Hill died in 1928. Street directories suggest she may have already left the house by then  but the property was placed in the hands of the Public Trustee. At the time of her death the land, Lot 8 DP 6574, encompassed what is today 183, 185 Melbourne Road and 1 Liffey Street. Tenants occupied the house for some period thereafter. In 1935 the Public Trust subdivided that land into three parts and portions were sold off.   The Hill house and immediate surrounds became Lot 2 of DP 9371, which it remains today. In 1942 the property was sold three times in a flurry of activity, firstly to John Faine, a company secretary, and then to Mabel Milner, and finally to Frederick Warner, a shipwright, and his wife Clara. Four years later it was sold to Ivan Richardson, a carpenter.   
  
  In 1952 the house was purchased by the WCC milk department, which was urgently searching for accommodation for its employees. The house was converted into three flats by extending the house into the extensive verandahs and converting the main reception areas into smaller spaces.   These appear to be the only major changes to the house. Although the Milk Department ceased operating, WCC employees and then casual tenants continued to rent the property until 2001. 

  
  
  
  

This house, a distinctive local landmark at the top of Melbourne Road has some historic significance for its association with local milliner Charles Hill and his family.

It is of some architectural interest for its typology, mid-way between villa and bungalow and of some technical interest for its early use of casement window joinery.

Located in a residential neighbourhood with many old houses, it retains a moderate degree of authenticity in the setting.

• District Plan Number

  4/ 438

• Legal Description

  Pt Lot 2 DP 9371

• Heritage New Zealand Listed

  Not listed

• Archaeological Site

  Risk unknown

• Current Uses

  unknown

• Former Uses

  unknown

• Has building been funded

  No

• Funding Amount

  Not applicable

• Earthquake Prone Status

  Not Earthquake Prone