Frank Hills and East Greenwich Tidemill

 Continuing with the story of the tide east Greenwich, near The Pilot Pub and there’s a lot more to say yet. 

In 1840 the mill and its site was bought by Frank Hills. Frank is a saga as you will see and one of the most interesting industrialists to work in Greenwich. He is someone whose obscurity has only been investigated because of the fortune he left his death in the 1890s. He has been overshadowed by his famous son Arnold whose career as the Chair of Thames Iron Works - on the other side the river from the Greenwich Peninsula - ended with the almost complete demise of the once world beating Thames shipbuilding industry.  More famously he was the founder of West Ham Football Club.

Frank was the third son in a large family whose father, Thomas Hills, had a chemical works at the Bromley by Bow Steam Mills. Among other things he had patented a way of making sulphuric acid. By 1830 Frank was working at the Deptford Chemical Works, then owned by a German Wilhelm Beneke, and later he took that works over.  Frank is often referred to as ‘the Deptford chemist’ but his range of interests were very much wider than Deptford. His main works was that at East Greenwich.

In the 1840s Frank was to become involved in the promotion of steam road vehicles which may or may not have been made by Joshua Taylor Beale - also on the Greenwich Peninsula, on the Enderby site. It would be best to leave it this story for another article. It is worth noting; however, that Frank was accused at the time of exploiting a method in the gearing of these vehicles on which somebody else had a patent.

Frank bought the East Greenwich tide mill in 1840 as part of the settlement of his marriage to Ellen Rawlings.  It is not clear if Frank continued to process corn at the mill.   From 1845 it is described as a ‘steam flour mill’ and a 25 hp steam engine was installed.  This engine had been made by William Joyce - whose engine factory was later the Victoria Iron Works on Norway Street in West Greenwich.   I wrote an article about William Joyce which was published in Greenwich Weekender in February 2019.

Much of what was processed at Frank’s various chemical works, and those of his many brothers and nephews, was concerned with the waste products of the gas industry.  They bought large quantities of ‘ammoniacal liquor’ which was produced during the manufacture of coal gas. It seems likely that it was used by manufacturing chemists to make a range of other products. 

Frank was also closely involved in the development of a process which cleaned up coal gas and by removing the smell made it more suitable for use in the home.  There is a long, long saga about the development of this process some of which I have outlined in my new book ‘The Early East London Gas Industry.  Frank actually held the patent on this ‘purifying’ process but he had acquired it by very dubious means. The story was told how at the Westminster Gas Works scientists were demonstrating the new process when they saw Frank standing outside in the Yard. Shut the door’ they said ‘or Frank will immediately patent it’.  Too late!  Frank already held the patent and would ruthlessly exploit over the next years

Frank’s energy was enormous. When I was researching the early gas industry I saw many, many gas company records from all round the country. All of them seem to have been visited by Frank so he could sell his purification process to them. He required them to buy a license from him to be allowed to use the system; he would then sell them a mixture which would clean the gas; for another fee he would remove the used mixture.  –He could then process it to remove the chemicals which could be sold.  If a gas company deviated from this agreement they would quickly find themselves in court.

The litigation on this issue between Frank the gas companies and the other inventors of the process went on for years and years. Much of the evidence is incomprehensible and there is a suspicion that he and the other chemists were trying to bamboozle judges and juries who they knew wouldn’t understand any of it - and so they would win their case.

Frank made a fortune but he had several other works. When researching Frank and his brothers I often found a report of a local chemical industry which said was bought by an obscure Deptford chemical company 'about which we know nothing  ... –called F.C. Hills & Co.’   I could have told them that F.C. Hills was actually a very large and wealthy company

His brother Henry lived at the Paragon in Blackheath and also managed a large, complex of chemical works at Amlwch on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. There were also mines on Parys Mountain in Anglesey and at some other sites in Wales.  In Spain there was a large mining complex with a railway, part of which is now an industrial heritage park at Huelva. Henry also had an interest in a salt works in the heart of the Cheshire salt industry. Another brother had works in Battersea and on the Isle of Dogs both called Anglesey Chemical Works. There was also a copper processing plant at Low Walker on the outskirts of Newcastle. These works also processed the gas industry purification waste out of which so much money was made.

Frank also had a works in Stratford in East London where he seems to have made fertiliser which was also made at East Greenwich.  It was made from wastes like shoddy, dry bones, ash and sugar bakers’ refuse –all organic waste which could be bought cheaply. This was then treated with sulphuric acid.  

All of this was led to an extremely unpleasant smell and there were complaints about a smell ‘of an acid and sickening character’ which could be smelt not only in Greenwich and Charlton but at the garrison at Woolwich 3 miles away.  In 1871 Mr Pink the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich gave advice ‘designed for abatement of a nuisance at these works.’ they were also investigated by Edward Ballard Chief Medical Officer for the Local Government Board when he looked at many smelly works along the Thames in the 1870s

In 1871 Frank become a director of the Thames Iron Works which was on Bow creek opposite East Greenwich. In 1869 they had built The Warrior - the great ironclad warship which is now a tourist attraction in Portsmouth Harbour.   Frank was effectively in charge of this works when it was at its peak as a builder of great warships in the late 19th century - they built not only for the Royal Navy but for the navies round the world. Frank is said to have been always most excited as a new ship was launched and set off down the Thames at with him on board.   It is this works which was passed to his son Arnold in the 1890s.

Frank died in 1895 at his home, Redleaf, just outside Penshurst - some of the gates to it remain on the hill which climbs north out of Penshurst.   St. Luke’s church in Penshurst remains as a memorial to him.  His death was followed closely by the death of his two eldest sons and his huge industrial legacy was broken up and passed into the hands of Arnold and the husbands of his daughters, Constance and Annie. Vegetarian temperance enthusiast Arnold poured Frank’s cellar full of claret down the drain at Redleaf.

Frank had been worth £1,942,836.11s. 11d at his death.  An analysis of the richest men in the Victorian era only found 40 worth over 2 million.  When his will was published suddenly the press began to ask– who was this obscure ‘Deptford chemist’. 

The East Greenwich tide mill was still in place at Frank’s death and had been used with part of the chemical works - an inventory of it exists in his estate papers. The site was then sold and the tide mill went to South Met gasworks and became their Phoenix Chemical Works.  Phoenix  was the last part of East Greenwich gas works to close and local residents may remember the amazing sulphate house built in the 1950s which survived the closure of the gas works and was only demolished in the 1990s - one of Greenwich's  great piece of architecture now sadly forgotten.

The other half part of the Hills chemical works was sold to the Greenwich and Blackheath Electricity Company for a power station - and I hope to be able to write about that and its successor station next. 

Frank Hills was am important and interesting man who should be better known than he is.   He was clearly a ruthless businessman however energetic. It is interesting that he did so well while his idealistic and honest son, Arnold, was to see the end of a major London industry.