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((Short description|English historian and clergyman (1936–2019)))
((multiple issues|
((more footnotes needed|date=May 2019))
((original research|date=May 2019))
((overly detailed|date=May 2019))))
((EngvarB|date=September 2017))
((Use dmy dates|date=September 2017))
'''Richard Leslie Hills'''  [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (1 September 1936 &ndash; 10 May 2019) was an English historian and clergyman who wrote extensively on the history of technology, particularly [[steam power]]. He helped to found [[Manchester]]'s [[Science & Industry Museum]], where he was its first lecturer-in-charge.

==Early life and education==
((more citations needed section|date=November 2021))
Mills was born on 1 September 1936 in [[Lee Green]], the second son of Leslie Hills and Margaret 'Peggy' Magdalen Miller (the youngest daughter of [[John Ontario Miller]]). His father Leslie Hills was an [[Anglican]] vicar; his mother died of cancer when he was two, and Hills spent his childhood in the care of an aunt in [[Tunbridge Wells]].<ref name=Wainwright/>

From an early age, he was fascinated with mechanical toys, whether making model aircraft on the nursery window sill, arranging layouts for model trains or taking clocks to pieces. At school - he attended [[Charterhouse School]] in [[Godalming]], Surrey - he started making a [[3½ inch gauge]] [[live steam]] model of the 1830 ''[[Invicta (locomotive)|Invicta]]''<ref name=Wainwright/> or ''[[Curly Lawrence#3½ inch gauge|Canterbury Lamb]]''.

In [[National Service]], he obtained a commission as [[2nd Lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Artillery]], ending up with the [[26th Regiment Royal Artillery|26 Field Regiment]] at [[Folkestone]] during the [[Suez Crisis]]. He was sent to [[Lydd-on-Sea]] to supervise the accommodation for Territorial units practising shooting on the [[Dungeness (headland)#Defence uses|Dungeness ranges]]. His mechanical interests at this time included a two-stroke [[Excelsior Motor Company|Excelsior]] motor bike and a restoration of a [[Standard Motor Company|Standard]] car.
[[File:Stretham Old Engine.JPG|thumb|Stretham Old Engine]]
He then studied the History Tripos at [[Queens' College, Cambridge]].<ref name=Wainwright/> While at Cambridge, he acquired a 1924 [[Lancia Lambda]] in need of restoration,<ref name=Wainwright/> and was introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Kenny who allowed impecunious students to use workshop facilities near [[Long Melford]] while they were trying to preserve the [[Stretham Old Engine]] that once drained the [[Waterbeach]] Level. Hills researched the history of this engine and [[the Fens]], and, after completing a Dip. Ed. at Cambridge and a brief teaching spell (at Earmley School, Sussex and [[New College Worcester|Worcester College for the Blind]]),<ref name=Wainwright/> did a year's research into fen drainage at [[Imperial College, London]] for which he was awarded a diploma while also publishing his first book, ''Machines, Mills and Uncountable Costly Necessities''.<ref name=Wainwright/>

Through the support of Professor [[Rupert Hall]] at Imperial, Donald Cardwell offered Hills a post as research assistant in his History of Science Department at the [[University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology]] (UMIST) to study the history of textile technology;<ref name=Wainwright/> from 1965 to 1968, he studied a PhD at UMIST, living for a time near [[Hyde, Greater Manchester|Hyde]], [[Cheshire]].

==Career==
((more citations needed section|date=November 2021))

===Science and Industry Museum===
While in Manchester, Hills helped to launch a [[Science & Industry Museum|science museum for Manchester]],<ref name=Wainwright/> supported by the [[City of Manchester]], the [[University of Manchester]] and UMIST. In 1967, UMIST purchased 97 Grosvenor Street for demolition but agreed to allow part of it to be used temporarily to start the museum. In 1968, the three authorities agreed £12,670 p.a. to fund a lecturer in charge, two technicians, a secretary and other running costs. Because he had been collecting exhibits such as the archives of locomotive manufacturer [[Beyer, Peacock & Company]] and many more, Hills was offered the post of lecturer in charge. The first stage of the museum was opened on 20 October 1969 by [[Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes|Lord Rhodes]], Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire. It contained displays of steam and internal combustion engines, paper-making, printing, spinning and weaving, scientific instruments, clocks, electrical exhibits such as wireless sets, archives and much more.

The museum's chief technician was Frank Wightman, an experienced [[millwright]], with a passion for the [[mill engine|steam engines that drove the textile mills]]. Manchester had been a centre for [[mechanical engineering]] with many internationally famous firms. Hills realised that it would be possible to find small examples of machine tools like [[lathe]]s or [[planer (metalworking)|planing machine]]s to show the basic principles. Also many textile machines might be shortened to just a few spindles, making them easier to demonstrate. So he decided to concentrate on mill engines of medium size that would still be impressive. These could be demonstrated under steam from a modern [[package boiler]].

Hills decided the museum would also collect exhibits they could not display immediately but would be necessary in a permanent museum. Offered a steam [[beam engine]] of around 1830 (like those that would have driven the first cotton spinning mills), he decided to use Wightman's expertise and dismantle it for storage. Likewise he accepted an offer of one of the last steam mill engines ever built, the 1925 [[W & J Galloway & Sons|Galloway]] engine from Elm Street Mill, [[Burnley]]. This required all of Wightman's skills to remove it, and it was held in three different stores before being re-erected in 1983.<ref name=Wainwright/> In 1972, the museum was able to expand into the whole of 97 Grosvenor Street so as many as possible of the exhibits were put into working order and demonstrated especially on Working Saturdays which attracted many visitors. Between the opening in 1969 and closure of Grosvenor Street in 1983, over half a million visitors passed through its doors.
[[Image:Liverpool Road.jpg|thumb|[[Manchester Liverpool Road railway station]]]]
The [[Rocket 150|celebration of the 150th anniversary]] of the 1830 opening of the [[Liverpool & Manchester Railway]] saw the acquisition of the original terminus at [[Manchester Liverpool Road railway station|Liverpool Road, Manchester]], by [[Greater Manchester County Council]], and the decision to move the museum into that historic site. This made it possible to take the mill engines out of store. Frank Wightman had died, leaving Hills as the only person who had seen them in their original situations. He had to supervise the construction of foundations then the actual erection of the mass of separate parts (total weight around 400 tons). For these engines to run again, there had to be installed services such as steam, water, condensing apparatus, drains as well as overhead cranes. It is probably the most complex display attempted for a museum. The Power Hall has been a major draw for visitors ever since, still being the most popular part of the museum.
[[File:1505 (E27001) Ariadne.jpg|thumb|[[British Rail Class 77|NS 1505 ''Ariadne'']] outside the museum]]
At Liverpool Road, the museum expanded into railway-related exhibits. Hills saw that they could complement the [[National Railway Museum]] by displaying locomotives that had been exported overseas by the many local locomotive building firms. A cousin, Elspeth Quayle, who was a member of the [[Isle of Man|Manx]] [[House of Keys]], introduced him to their Minister of Transport and so was arranged the return to Manchester of the Beyer, Peacock-built [[Isle of Man Railway locomotives#No. 3 Pender|''Pender'']].<ref name=Wainwright/> The sectioning of this locomotive proved to be another big draw. The British Overseas Railways Historical Society helped with the return of a [[Vulcan Foundry]] 4-4-0 locomotive from Pakistan. [[Nederlandse Spoorwegen|Netherlands State Railways]] presented the high-speed electric [[British Rail Class EM2|EM2 Class]] ''Ariadne'' built at Gorton with [[Metropolitan-Vickers]] electrics (designed originally to work between [[Manchester Piccadilly railway station|Manchester]] and [[Sheffield Victoria railway station|Sheffield]] and then on to London when that part of the line might be electrified). Perhaps Hills' greatest achievement was securing and organising the repatriation of a [[South African Railways]] [[South African Class GL 4-8-2+2-8-4|GL Class Garratt]] articulated locomotive.<ref name=Wainwright/> The logistics of moving this 120 ton monster from [[Johannesburg]] to Manchester were considerable, involving a visit by him to that country.<ref>Garratt returns ''[[Rail (magazine)|Rail Entusiast]]'' issue 30 March 1984 page 18</ref>

The museum has continued to expand and develop, becoming one of north West England's most popular visitor attraction.<ref name=Wainwright/> Since the opening at Liverpool Road in 1983, there have been around 2.5 million visitors; in 2013 alone there were 643,000 visitors, drawn by the many working exhibits, the tradition started at Grosvenor Street.

===Church work===
By 1983, Hills was feeling the stress of many years overworking. So he took early retirement on ill-health grounds and trained to serve in the Church of England as an ordained priest. He studied at St Deiniol's Library (now known as [[Gladstone's Library]]), [[Hawarden]], Flintshire from 1985 to 1987; and he continued to help in local churches in the [[Mottram in Longdendale|Mottram]] deanery.

He continued, however, to contribute more books and articles on the history of technology, including a three volume biography of [[James Watt]].<ref name="Robinson">((cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Andrew |title=History of engineering: Wonder maker |journal=Nature |date=August 2014 |volume=512 |issue=7513 |pages=134–135 |doi=10.1038/512134a |bibcode=2014Natur.512..134R |s2cid=4458417 |doi-access=free ))</ref> Hills was also Honorary Reader in History of Science and Technology at UMIST.

== Publications ==
((more citations needed section|date=November 2021))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=
  |title=Machines, Mills and Uncountable Costly Necessities: A Short History of Drainage of the Fens
  |year=1967
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Power in the Industrial Revolution
  |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]
  |year=1970
  |isbn=0719003776
))<ref name="Gbooks">((cite book |title=Power in the Industrial Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k8ghAAAAMAAJ | isbn=9780719003776 |access-date=15 November 2021| last1=Hills | first1=Richard Leslie | year=1970 ))</ref>
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=[[Richard Arkwright]] and Cotton Spinning
  |year=1973
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Beyer-Peacock, Locomotive Builders to the World
  |year=1982
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Paper Making in Britain, 1488–1988: A Short History
  |year=1988
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Power from Steam
  |year=1993
  |isbn=
))<ref>((cite journal|title= Richard L. Hills. Power from Steam: A History of the Stationary Steam Engine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Pp. Xv + 338. ISBN 0-521-34356-9. £45.00.|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=2936492|journal= The British Journal for the History of Science| date=December 1990 | volume=23 | issue=4 | pages=461–463 | doi=10.1017/S0007087400028090 |access-date=1 December 2010| last1=Hall | first1=A. Rupert | s2cid=144918480 ))</ref><ref>((cite journal
  |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14018984.300-review-roy-herbert-discovers-the-attraction-of-steam-power-and-marvels-of-underground-london.html
  |title=Review: Roy Herbert discovers the attraction of steam power and marvels of underground London|last=Herbert|first=Roy|date=6 November 1993
  |journal=[[New Scientist]]
  |access-date=1 December 2010
))</ref>
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Power from Wind: A History of Windmill Technology
  |year=1993
  |isbn=
))<ref name="Boyle">((cite web|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=163455&sectioncode=34|title=A plug for the future|last=Boyle|first=Godfrey|date=8 March 1996|work=[[Times Higher Education]]|access-date=1 December 2010))</ref>
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=The Origins of the Garratt Locomotive
  |year=2000
  |isbn=1871980437
  |publisher=Plateway Press
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Windmills, A Pictorial History of Their Technology
  |year=2000
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=[[James Watt]]: Volume 1: His time in Scotland, 1736–1774
  |year=2002
  |isbn=
))<ref name="Robinson"/>
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=Life and Inventions of [[Richard Roberts (engineer)|Richard Roberts]]
   |year=2002
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=The Drainage of the Fens
  |year=2003
  |isbn=
))
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=James Watt: Volume 2: His time in England, 1774–1815
  |year=2005
  |isbn=
))<ref name="Robinson"/>
*((Cite book
  |last=Hills  |first=Richard L.
  |author-mask=2
  |title=James Watt: Volume 3: Triumph through Adversity, 1785–1819
  |year=2006
  |isbn=
))<ref name="Robinson"/>

Hills wrote over 100 articles ((Citation needed|date=May 2008)) in journals such as ''[[Newcomen Society|Newcomen Society Transactions]]'', Manchester Memoirs, ''[[The Railway Magazine]]'', ''[[Railway World]]'', ''Notes and Records of the [[Royal Society]]'', ''Journal of the Textile Institute'', ''Industrial Archaeology'', ''The Quarterly'' (''Journal of the British Association of Paper Historians''), ''International Association of Paper Historians Year Book'', ''Technology and Culture'', ''History of Technology'', ''Museum Association Journal'', ''Snowdon Ranger'' ([[Welsh Highland Railway|Welsh Highland Railway Society]]), ''[[Textile History]]'' and the ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland''.

He has made contributions to the following and other encyclopaedias, etc. ''Biographical Dictionary of Scientists'', ''Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology'', ''Encyclopedia of the History of Technology'', ''New Dictionary of the National Biography'', ''Oxford Companion to the Book'' and ''Reader's Guide to the History of Science''.

== Offices, awards and honours ==
Hills held various positions in learned societies at various times:
* Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society – Member of Council, later (2014) an Honorary Member
* Manchester Region Industrial Archeology Society – chairman, Secretary, later an Honorary Member
* International Association of Paper Historians – President, later an Honorary Member
* British Association of Paper Historians – Founding President
* Newcomen Society for the History of Engineering – Member of Council, Chairman of the North West Branch
* Manchester Association of Engineers – Member of Council, Editor, President
* Society of Ordained Scientists – Secretary

Awards and honours included:
* Award of Merit, Cambridge Education Diploma
* [[Abbot Payson Usher Prize]], 1973 (R. L. Mills and A. J. Pacey, "The Measurement of Power in the Early Steam-driven Textile Mills," Technology and Culture 13 (1972): 25–43)
* Companion of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]]
* Honorary Life Vice-president, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
* Awarded Manchester University Medal of Honour (2014)

Hills was appointed [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[2015 New Year Honours]] for services to industrial heritage.<ref>((London Gazette|issue=61092|supp=y|page=N20|date=31 December 2014))</ref><ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/391413/New_Year_Honours_List_2015.pdf 2015 New Year Honours List]</ref>

==Family==
While working as curate at [[St Michael and All Angels Church, Mottram|St Michael and All Angels Church]], [[Mottram in Longdendale]], Hills met Bernice Pickford<ref name=Wainwright/> and they were married there in August 2008. She died from cancer in 2016. After her death, as therapy, he was encouraged to write his autobiography, ''The Seven ages of One Man'' (published in 2018).

He was diagnosed with [[Parkinson's disease]] in 2011 and died on 10 May 2019, aged 82.<ref>[http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/233323/hills Hills Death notice] ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' Retrieved: 15 November 2021.</ref><ref name=Wainwright>((Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/05/richard-hills-obituary|title=Richard Hills obituary|last=Wainwright|first=Martin|date=2019-06-05|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2019-06-06|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077))</ref>

==References==
((Reflist))

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Hills, Richard L.))
[[Category:Historians of technology]]
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Imperial College London]]
[[Category:20th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]

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