Edward Henry Hillman and Hillman’s Airways
1931-1935
Brush-making, drummer boy, brewer’s drayman, cavalry sergeant, cabman, “flying buses”, “moths, gypsies, rapides and dragons”, grandfather to British Airways – Edward Hillman could turn his hand to anything!
A compilation of information
(This compilation results from all the references and links noted at the end of this section).
In these days of frequent and major changes in international airline names and alliances, it is interesting to look back to some of the earliest days and the fledgling airlines that included Hillman’s Airways in the UK. Hillman’s Airways was one of the very early airlines that were amalgamated into what is now British Airways.
The airline was founded by Edward Hillman, a bus company operator who simply added light aircraft to his fleet of passenger carrying vehicles and paid the drivers of both the same salary. I wonder how the airline pilots of today would view that as a proposal?! Edward Henry Hillman was born on the 19th March 1889, in Croydon. In 6 brief years apparently, he developed not only the largest coach fleet in the world at the time, but also latterly the fledgling airline. He died at the end of 1934, aged only 45.
4.4.1 Edward Henry Hillman – the man
Edward Henry Hillman was born in Croydon, Surrey to Edward and Annie (née White) Hillman on the 19th March 1889. He came from a humble background and received little schooling in his early years. His mother died when he was only two years old. At the age of only nine he was sent out to work for a local brush-maker. Three years later he took himself off to the local recruiting office and enlisted as a Drummer Boy with the Essex Regiment.
Over the next 16 years he saw varied military service and rose to the rank of Sergeant Major in the cavalry during the First World War, serving in Malta and Ireland. There was an interlude when he worked as a brewer’s drayman before he re-joined the army when the First World War broke out. A riding accident in 1918 at Mons, France, apparently left him lying trapped beneath his horse for three days, after which part of his leg had to be amputated and he was fitted with a wooden one and invalided out of the army with a small gratuity.
He obtained work as a chauffeur, but then purchased his own vehicle with his army gratuity and operated it as a taxi in the Bow area. He earned sufficient to then open his own cycle shop business at 52b Romford Road, selling, repairing and hiring out pedal cycles, or some accounts say a fleet of hire cars with drivers, and then operating “Hillman’s Garage”[1]. In this he was in a way following in the footsteps of the earlier William Henry Hillman, and fellow Essex-born entrepreneur, who graduated from making sewing machines, then bicycles, and finally established the famous Hillman Motor Car Company.
Edward married Eliza Kathleen Miller in late 1911. She was born in 1896 at Billericay, Essex, and was known as Eliza Kate. They had at six children. His daughter Doreen is pictured alongside one of the aircraft with her father and brother – and one of the aircraft was called “Doreen”, named after her. When he started his coach service in 1928 he operated this with himself as the driver and his son – who was only 16 years old at the time – as conductor. The company was operated for two months after Edward’s death by his son named as Edward Arthur John “Sonny” Hillman, the same son from the coach-operating days. Another aircraft was named “Sonny”. Edward junior was born in Billericay in June 1913. He married Rose W. Robey in June 1935 at Marylebone. Barbara had an aircraft named “Babs” for her, Chris, and Gilford likewise. Doreen and Douglas were twins, but no aircraft was christened Douglas, who anyway preferred the name “Jim”.
The Hillman family lived in a simple house at 145 Hare Street (today called Main Road), Gidea Park – a housing estate developed on what were the grounds of Gidea Hall after 1911. They called the house Gilford Lodge after the Gilford Motor Company from whom Hillman purchased his coaches. The hedges were reputedly clipped to the shapes of Hillman’s Airways aircraft with a large metallic sphere on an obelisk in the garden (Philpot 2003). One of the roads in the Gidea Park area has since been named “Hillman Close”. Edward Hillman drove himself around in a huge cream and black Bentley[2] – while others say it was a Rolls Royce1.
This “rough diamond” image of the man “Ted” does not fit well with that from the photos we have of him as airline operator. In these he is always depicted as a dapper dresser – tie, jacket, waistcoat and even a buttonhole on some occasions. These may of course just reflect his more formal attire for formal occasions – such as the “christening” of each new line of aircraft, usually by a member of the aristocracy, meeting with the Prime Minister as new routes or airports were inaugurated, and with London’s Lord Mayor on the occasion of his “Essex Aviation Display” in September 1932. He is also depicted about to travel on the initial flight to Paris with his daughter Doreen and son Edward Arthur John, still in suit and tie, but with a smart trilby in contrast with his son’s “flatcap”.
The notoriety of his working methods is highlighted by one author – G.D. Fleming2 – who worked as a pilot for Hillman’s Airways for a five-month period. He described him as “Old Man Hillman”, “an amazing character” who professed to be unable to read or write. He also suggests that Hillman made his money by overloading his aircraft and underpaying his pilots! During his brief employment Fleming claims to have discovered Hillman’s “nicely cooked” load sheets, and to have had it out with the boss and put an end the racket. However, Fleming also claims he learned more about flying and recorded more flying hours in his five months with Hillman’s Airways, than he did in five years with the RAF!
Edward Henry Hillman died on 31st December 1934. His gravestone in Romford cemetery, Essex, bears a relief in stone of the De Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft that Hillman’s Airways was the first to use, and the touching and appropriate inscription:
He is buried together with his wife Eliza Kate, who died shortly afterwards on 23rd October 1936, aged 46.
The fullest details of the man, his family, saloon coach services and Hillman’s Airways can be found in the book “The Triple Alliance” by Neville Doyle1.
Why did Edward Henry Hillman die so young? We are told that he was ill for a fortnight, and this – together with overwork, and added to the injuries he sustained in the First World War – led to his early death, attributed to heart attack and stroke. This and other questions about the man require further research – such as where he fits into the Hillman families of the London area and the southern counties.
4.4.2 The Hillman’s Saloon Coach Company
In 1928 Edward Henry Hillman was then able to purchase his first bus, which he operated with his son who was only 16 years old at the time. On the 7th of December 1928 he initiated his own commercial route between Stratford and Brentwood. This had been extended out as far as Chelmsford and Colchester a year later, and in 1930 had reached Clacton with 54 bus departures a day from Stratford.
In March 1930 he had accumulated a total of 18 coaches, and by December 1931 this had grown to 57 coaches. In the summer of 1931 he operated six coaches daily on the route to Ipswich, two to Great Yarmouth, and two to Norwich. He also initiated new services to Aldgate and Upminster. The single fare to Clacton and Ipswich was 5 shillings, Yarmouth 6/=, and Norwich 7/6d. By 1932 there were 70 coach departures a day from the new depot at Bow, at fifteen minute intervals between 0615 and 2330 hrs. At its height Hillman Coaches boasted around 113 coaches after only six years in operation. When the company was well established it was reputedly claimed that you could stand on Brook Street Hill east of Romford and always see a blue and white Hillman bus somewhere. The network stretched from Central London (Aldgate) north to Norwich and Great Yarmouth – a distance of around 123 road miles (200kms)
The efficiency of the system was put down to Edward Hillman’s relentless “cajoling” of his staff and being prepared to fire them on the spot! His every day appearance was not what one might expect of a high-powered travel pioneer. He has been described as a “rough diamond”, always to be found working with his shirt sleeves rolled up, driving one of his buses, or tinkering with a greasy engine in the workshop. Quotes refer to his arrogance, stubbornness and hot-blooded temper, but also his shrewd business mind, dogged determination and readiness to work hard for what he wanted. He was always ahead of other operators in terms of new ideas and is credited with inventing the “penny fare” and season tickets.
Figure 1 Map of Hillman Coach Routes
Formal bus route licensing started in 1931 with traffic courts where he faced opposition to his operations. In 1933 national bus services were developing and the government compulsory purchase orders saw him being bought out. By January 1934 the London Transport Passenger Board had taken over most of the Hillman’s bus fleet, routes and the garage in London Road, Romford. The balance of the bus operations, the Bow depot and 28 coaches were sold to Eastern National. By August of 1934 Hillman’s only had the Bow-Chelmsford route.
4.4.3 Hillman’s Airways
As early as 1931 it would seem that Edward Hillman had seen this coming and was already diversifying into the new world of air-taxi and charter flights. He initially purchased two De Havilland Puss Moth aircraft from Brian Lewis and Company, the De Havilland distributors who supplied all of the 25 aircraft he eventually used.
Hillman’s Airways’ – registered initially on 12th November 1931 as Hillman’s Saloon Coaches and Airways Ltd. – inaugural flight was on the 1st April 1932 from Maylands Aerodrome in Essex (now a golf course), to Clacton-on-Sea, also in Essex, using a three-seater De Havilland Puss Moth (DH-80A). This was a distance of only 18 air miles in half an hour across the Wash but was then however 47 miles by road in 2-3 hours, and taking at least an hour today. The aircraft fleet was augmented soon afterwards by De Havilland Fox Moths (DH-83).
Operations were cut-price with no frills. There were no flights in winter. The Romford area of Essex is today virtually a suburb of London on the east side of the city. Hillman developed the airfield with hangers, workshops and a reception area for the passengers. It became known as Maylands, as well as the Hillman’s Aerodrome, but he was quick to correct Flight Magazine when they called it the “Gallows Corner Aerodrome” for the Essex Aviation Display – perhaps concerned at the image this conjured up in potential passengers’ minds!
The inaugural international flight was exactly a year later to Paris in the new De Havilland Dragon biplane (DH-84). The one-way tickets cost just £3 10s! A timetable indicates that the journey started by road from Bow Road, Charing Street in London to Maylands Aerodrome, in a time of 45 minutes. This was followed by a 2-hour 10 min flight across the Channel to Le Bourget airfield, and a further 30-minute drive to 25 Rue Royalev, in Paris. Two flights a day were carried out each way. Special weekend rates were offered. Day Return tickets for Paris cost £4 15s 0d – this was 10s cheaper than the Air France single cross-Channel fare at the time. Fifteen kilos was the baggage allowance.
At this time Imperial Airways was the national flag carrier airline. Later Hillman routes included Belfast, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Ramsgate, Paris, Antwerp and Brussels from “London”. Hillman’s Airways also took on a contract with the Post Office for regular airmail flights to London, Liverpool, Belfast and Glasgow, which made a secure basis for the business between December 1934 and December 1935.
The first aircraft used were De Havilland DH-80 Puss Moths followed with DH-83 Fox Moths – all biplanes – of various models. Hillman also had a DH-60m Moth aircraft, and a DH-60 G III Moth Major aircraft registered in his name. This was in addition to his later DH-84 Dragons, DH-89 Dragon Rapides and DH-86 Express aircraft. The Fox Moth aircraft was developed as an air-taxi in 1932 from the original Tiger Moth, many of whose components were used. The pilot sat in an open cockpit near the centre of the length of the plane, while the 4 passengers were in a small cabin towards the front. These aircraft operated the Hillman’s Airways flights from Clacton to Maylands to Ramsgate. Everything was done to minimise the costs of air travel, including paying minimal staff wages. The aircraft were painted in a blue and white livery, reminiscent of the Hillman coach service.
As larger aircraft were brought into use the services were moved from Maylands to Stapleford Aerodrome – still in Essex. Hillman took on the development of this completely new aerodrome, including moving the original hangars from the Maylands field. The move was necessary as Edward Hillman was taking on the larger De Havilland aircraft and Maylands Aerodrome had become a Custom’s Aerodrome with size limitations on the aircraft permitted to operate. In December 1932 Hillman’s Airways began operating the prototype of the larger De Havilland DH-84 twin-engine Dragon and took on the first three production models.
In 1934 the Airways took delivery of the very first of the successful two-engined De Havilland DH-89 Dragon Rapide, which was still a biplane. Edward Hillman liked to claim that his representations and ideas to De Havilland had led to the design of these aircraft, but this was probably his wishful thinking! Three of the new four-engined De Havilland Express DH-86 were also registered as Hillman’s Airways in 1935 after his death, and models and photos of this aircraft exist in the Hillman’s Airways livery.
Amy Mollison (née Johnson) flew as a pilot for Hillman’s Airways in the summer of 1934 for a short period until September, before she became famous as a long distance flier. This was possibly the first instance of a woman being taken on as a commercial pilot? One photograph shows her christening a new Hillman’s Airways aircraft arrival by smashing a bottle of champagne over its nose. In November 1934 Edward Hillman invited Amy Mollison onto the Board of Hillman’s Airways – another first for a woman in those days.
A second female pilot was Pauline Gower, who later as Pauline de Peauly, formed and directed the war-time Air Transport Auxiliary – delivering aircraft from factory to airfields where required – mainly by female pilots. Records exist of at least 14 other pilots (see below) who worked for Edward Hillman. He was also able to fly himself. We do not know what limitations his artificial leg placed on his abilities, but it would seem there were none. He was said to walk with a limp.
One of the early aircraft technicians with Hillman’s Airways was James Tocher Bain who was an Engineer. He then joined Spartan Airlines as Chief Ground Engineer in 1933, and then as Deputy Chief Ground Engineer for British Airways Limited.
Map of Hillman’s Airways Destinations from Maylands Aerodrome
Kingsley Amis, the famous author, is thought to have been an early – and frightened – passenger in a Hillman’s Airways DH Dragon out of Croydon.
In 1932 Edward Hillman organised the Essex Aviation Display at Maylands, presumably for publicity, inviting in members of the public and flying in the Mayors and Mayoresses of nearby municipalities including London. Part of this was the Hillman Trophy Race for aircraft from Romford to Clacton to Blue Barns and back to Romford.
So successful was the company financially that in late 1934 its shares were floated on the Stock Exchange with an authorised capital of £150,000. In late summer 1935 the company carried over 1,200 passengers per month.
The only aircraft ever lost by Hillman’s Airways was the Dragon Rapide G-ACPM lost at sea 4 miles off Folkstone on 2nd October 1934, shortly before Hillman’s death. All six passengers and the pilot died. The accident was ascribed to pilot navigational inexperience.
Another tragedy struck the airline on 21st February 1935 shortly after Hillman’s death. Two American sisters died when they jumped out of a Hillman’s Airways Dragon over Upminster on the way to Paris. These were Jane and Elizabeth Du Bois (aged 20 and 23), daughters of the US Consul General in Naples, Italy. It became apparent later that this was a suicide pact based on the deaths of their fiancés – or close friends – in an RAF Flying Boat incident earlier that same month.
One of the pilots – Mr J. Kirton – had the misfortune to be in charge of the same aircraft when the double suicide tragedy described above occurred, and in the “case of the lost gold”. The Times of 28th Jan 1935 reported the incident in which four bars of gold valued then at over £ 20,000, had fallen from a Hillman’s Airways aircraft on a flight between Paris and England. They could have fallen into the sea or over land and were missing from the baggage compartment along with other items after the baggage hold had been “ripped open” with a hole torn in the flooring. The flimsy construction of aircraft at the time and the weight of the two boxes of gold (60kg each) could easily have accomplished this, especially if shifting in flight during reportedly strong buffeting winds over the Channel. All the gold was later recovered by the French police after a rural couple had noticed wood fragments on their land. The gold was found at a depth of two feet in the ground due to its weight and height from which it fell, and despite the frozen winter soil.
It was soon afterwards stated that the pilot had resigned and found work elsewhere – and that “his departure, of course, is not connected in any way with the two unfortunate accidents”!
Another snippet of gossip concerns an “actionable defamation” lawsuit in France in 1934, but further details are needed – “Hillman’s Airways Ltd. v. Société Anonyme d’Editions Aeronautiques Internationales [1934] 2 K.B. 356”.
4.4.4 The end of the runway
The end of Hillman’s Airways came in October 1935, less than a year after Edward Hillman’s death. Edward A.J. Hillman, his son (then presumably only about 23 years old), took over as Managing Director. He resigned however, in February 1935, less than two months later, in complete disagreement with the Board’s future Policy. The bankers d’Erlanger, together with Whitehall Securities, took over the interest in the company, and orchestrated the merger with Spartan and United that led to the formation of (Allied) British Airways – the government’s second “chosen instrument” – after Imperial Airways.
Another legal action is recorded in Britain in 1935 at the Supreme Court of Judicature, Companies Court, with reference to Edward Henry Hillman Ltd. Details of this have yet to be seen, but probably concern the changes in the company necessary after Edward Hillman’s death. His probate value is recorded as only £18,217 4s 9d in May 1935. His death was apparently mis-dated by a Time CNN website as 07 January 1935 “of high blood pressure”, and they go on to say that he was “….. a homeless wanderer from the age of nine, a humble bicycle repairman five years ago …..” in contrast to other sources.
Hillman’s Airways continued to operate, despite all this, with new routes established to Belgium and France. The airline also acquired three new aircraft in the form of the DH-86 Express – still a biplane along the lines of the Dragon and Dragon Rapide, but with four engines instead of two. These were purchased in May 1935, bringing to 25 the total aircraft used at one time or another by Hillman’s Airways. At this juncture it was reported as having a total of thirteen aircraft in use.
One aircraft originally used by Hillman’s Airways remains visible to the public in the UK today – this was the DH-89 Dragon Rapide originally registered as G-ADAH in January 1935. It went on to serve with British Airways, Northern and Scottish Airways, Airwork and finally Allied Airways. There followed a period when it was stored, then broken up, before being collated and restored – but sadly in Allied Airways livery named “Pioneer”. It can be seen today, airworthy but non-flying, at the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology.
One Hillman coach is still known to exist with the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society. It is labelled as Gilford Bus JD1981 and is to be restored after being out in the open for many years.
In August 1935 the Hillman’s Airways company announced it was moving operations to the new Gatwick Airport in Sussex. A month later announcements were made that the airline would be merging with two others – United Airways and Spartan Air Lines – to form Allied British Airways, which was registered on 30th September 1935. On the 10th of October a Hillman’s Airways shareholders meeting was informed of the company’s financial losses of £28,000.
My own reconstruction of Hillman’s Airways DH-89 Dragon Rapide G-ADAH (using Airfix model 04047)
The new airline name was originally Allied British Airways Ltd., and only a month later simply British Airways. Finally, this airline was merged with Imperial Airways and nationalised to become the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). In the 1970s BOAC and BEA were merged into British Airways – and the name as we know it today came into being once again.
A nice touch was made by British European Airways (BEA) in naming one of their aircraft the “Edward Hillman” in his memory.
So – while no blue and white Hillman’s Airways aircraft grace the skies of the world today – every time you see the British Airways red, white and blue livery – they seem to change designs fairly frequently – think back to the old blue and white of Hillman’s Airways four passenger DH-83 Fox Moths and six passenger DH-89 Dragon Rapides – one of BA’s humble “founders”!
4.4.5 List of Hillman’s Airways Aircraft Registrations
4.4.6 List of some Hillman’s Airways Pilots
- Anderson, W.
- Bannister, Walter Robert
- Crundall, R.D.
- Easdon, H.W.
- Fleming, “Flip”
- Flowerday, H.E.
- Gower, Pauline
- Johnson, Amy
- Kirton, John
- Lock, John
- Moreton, T.W. “Sammy”
- Oliver, John
- Pelly, Nigel
- Van Oppen, Leonard
- Wood, Harold “Timber”
Note that at least two of these pilots were women, which for that day and age was remarkable!
Source: Philpot 2003
4.4.7 Pictures of Hillman’s Airways Aircraft, Art and Paper
Hillman’s Airways Aircraft
Hillman’s Airways Personalities
Hillman Airways in Art
Hillman Airmail
Hillman’s Airways Paper
Sources:
[1] Doyle, Neville. 2001. The Triple Alliance: The Predecessors of the first British Airways. Air-Britain, Tonbridge, UK.
[2] Fleming, G.D. 1947. Blue is the Sky. William Earl and Co., Bournemouth & London. (reviewed by “NDR” in Flight Magazine, 20 March 1947).
General sources used in the compilation:
Bagwell, Philip Sidney & Peter J. Lyth. 2002. Transport in Britain : from Canal Lock to Gridlock. Continuum International Publishing Group. 272 pp. ISBN 1852852631
Cluett D., Nash J. & Learmonth B. 1980. Croydon Airport : The Great Days 1928-1939. London Borough of Sutton, Libraries & Arts Services. p.66-67, 87, 136, 167.
Evans, Brian. 1994. Romford, Collier Row & Gidea Park.; Phillimore & Co Ltd; ISBN 0-85033-922-7 128 pages – especially plate 63
Feather, Fred. (undated) An American Tragedy. Essex Police Museum “History Notebook” Issue no. 40. 3pp
Flight Magazine Archive 1931 – 1973. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/index.html
Hibbs, John. 2004. Hillman, Edward Henry (1889-1934). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP
Philpot, Anthony K. 2003. Maylands Aerodrome, 1928-1940 : The story of a small Independent Airfield. Ian Henry Publications Ltd., Romford, Essex, UK. 59pp
Riley, Gordon. 1975. An Essex Airline of the 1930s. Essex Countryside. Dec 1975, 23 (227):26-27
Times Online Archives 1930 – 1940. http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc#
And the following websites accessed since 2007:
www.airlines.afriqonline.com/airlines/817.htm
www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=18727
www.cct.u-net.com/c:%5CHACHomepage/DH89G-ADAH.html
www.countrybus.org.uk/GF/GF2.html
www.croydonsociety.org.uk/Focus/2000Autumn/Focus2000Autumn.html
www.flysfc.com/ourhistoryprivate.html
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/7774/dragon.htm
www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_G-A6.htm
www.havering.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4702
www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/r11cases
www.maryshaw.webspace.fish.co.uk/star.htm
www.metadyne.co.uk/airport2.pdf
www.romford.org/people/hillman/hillman01.htm
www.skylineaviation.co.uk/buses/LT.html
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,748297,00.html
www.timetablesimages.com/ttimages/hill.htm