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John HILL, 1858-1931

          Politician, community leader, businessman

John Hill was born in Richmond, Victoria on 12 April 1858, the son of John Hill and his wife Mary Ann nee Fysh. John’s father was born in 1822 at Arbroath, Forfar Shire, Scotland and his mother in1827 in Leziate, Norfolk, England. They were married in 1856 at St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch, Middlesex and arrived in Melbourne on 20 March 1858 on board ‘Sea Park’ as assisted immigrants with daughter Mary Ann aged about 15 months. 

After arrival in Melbourne, the Hill family lived at Richmond where son John was born and later at Collingwood. Another son Albert Francis (Frank) was born in 1860 and a daughter, Catherine, in 1861. Son, Robert was born in 1866 but died soon after birth. Mother, Mary Anne, died soon afterwards in January 1867. The family moved to Sydney in 1873 and settled in Balmain. Although John found work as a carpenter, he moved again to Wellington,New Zealand, where he died on 6 August 1884.

At the age of 18 John Hill (junior) had apprenticed himself to the skipper of a ‘windjammer’ facing a life at sea. Fortunately, his father intervened, the indentures were cancelled and later he became a builder. In January 1879, John married Rose Harris in Paddington. Rose was born in 1861, the daughter of John Harris and his wife Jane nee Madden. Between 1879 and 1906, John and Rose HIll raised a family of twelve children – four sons and eight daughters. Also a baby Lillie, born 8 June 1884 had died the same day so was possibly still born.

In the early years of their marriage John worked as a builder in the western suburbs of Sydney but in 1891 moved to the village of Gunnamatta. The family lived at the end of Wooloware road near Port Hacking and John set himself up as a boat builder at Gunnamatta Bay. In 1893 he purchased a block of land on the corner of Wooloware Road and Hill Street and built a house with eight bedrooms to accommodate his large family. The house was called ‘Hillcrest’. At this time there were very few houses in the area.

Burraneer Bay Public School was opened in 1893 on the corner of Burraneer Bay Road and  Gannons Road with Principal Coombes. John’s younger children attended the school until it closed in 1907. The children then transferred to Miranda Public School and travelled there by horse bus.

In those early days, the Hill family relied on a monthly delivery of groceries from Anthony Hordens of Brickfield Hill in Sydney, although Mrs Hill would sometimes go to the store to check the goods before placing the order. Groceries were supplied in bulk and were delivered by horse drawn vehicles. Tea was delivered by Griffith Bros. Store. Two or three times a year a man known as ‘Old Davey’ would arrive with his covered horse drawn waggon with rolls of prints, cotton and calico and haberdashery items. The girls of the family looked forward to these visits.

The Hill family also had an oyster lease on Gunnamatta Bay and grew their own fruit and vegetables. A local baker delivered bread and later Len Burton delivered smallgoods from Port Hacking Road.

John Hill’s boat building business on Gunnamatta Bay, with a slipway for launching, was very successful. Son John soon joined him in this enterprise. Many types of boats were built including motor boats. The first outboard motor on Port Hacking was fitted there. As well as boats for the local community, they constructed watercraft for traders in the South Seas. One 40 foot boat built by Hills was fitted with an engine by son John (Jack) and he sailed it to a plantation in the Solomon Islands. The whole family enjoyed sailing on Port Hacking and would sometimes even camp overnight at favourite spots like South West Arm. John Hill built and sailed his own boat from Port Hacking to take part in the first Commonwealth Regatta on Sydney Harbour in 1900.

As well as being a successful businessman, John Hill, from his earliest days, was involved in Community affairs. He was associated with the progress of Cronulla and district for 43 years.  In 1906 he was a member of the first Shire Council and served in that capacity for 16 years, sometimes as President. He was the first president of the School of Arts at Cronulla, holding that position until his death, also a member of the Miranda School Board. He was the President of the Cronulla Parents’ and Citizens’ Association which agitated for the establishment of the School at Cronulla. 

John Hill was prominent in the move to construct the tram from Sutherland to Cronulla which opened in 1911. He was a foundation member and a trustee of the Cronulla Masonic Lodge. He represented Cronulla district on the committee of the St George district Hospital. John Hill was also Commodore of the Port Hacking Sailing Club and trustee and president (1917-1919) of Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club. 

In a profile published in the St George Call in November 1911, the journalist noted ‘Cr.Hill has a  good grip of local government procedure and…..he is likely to see many more years of active service for the ratepayers’. When John Hill died in 1931 aged 73 ears, he was described in The Propeller as ‘Cronulla’s Grand Old Man’. He had certainly lived up to that early prediction.

John Hill died at his home in Wooloware Road on 2 December 1931. He was buried at Woronora Cemetery and was survived by his wife, Rose, six daughters and four sons, thirteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Rose Hill died on 8 October 1948. She was buried at Woronora Cemetery with husband John and children Robert and Minnie.

Colleen Passfield 2020

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