Edward Henry Hillman

Edward Henry Hillman (1889-1934) of Edward Hillmans Saloon Coaches and Hillman's Airways

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Edward Henry Hillman

PART 1: Hillman Coaches

Edward Henry Hillman was born in Croydon on the 19th March 1889.

He started work at age 9 as a farmers boy, later working in a Brush factory where he bound the bristles to the handles.

At the age of 12 Edward joined the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment as a Drummer Boy.

In the 1911 Census he was in the Army at Farnham, Surrey with the 1st Cavalry 19th Hussars

During WW1 he served in Malta and Ireland and fought in the Battle of the Somme, eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant Major.

In 1918 at the Battle of Mons his horse was shot. Hillman lay in no-man’s land with the horse on top of him for two days. His leg went gangrenous and had to be amputated. Thereafter Edward had to use a wooden leg.

Edward was invalided out of the Army with a small gratuity. He taught himself to drive and became a chauffeur in the Diplomatic Service.

He saved enough money to buy a car which he hired out. He bought and ran a motor cycle and car repair business of his own located in Romford Road , Stratford.

1919 Edward married Eliza Kate Miller in Billericay - and they had one son.

With the small number of cars on the roads at that time, the 1920’s were the heyday of the privately owned coach.

A network of coach companies soon covered the country. Hillman saw his chance when he realised the extent of this business opportunity, and In the autumn of 1928 he bought his first coach.

On 7th December 1928, with his son (who was no more than 9 years old) as conductor, he drove a scheduled service between Stratford and Brentwood, serving three major shopping areas at Stratford, Ilford and Romford.

Unlike other coach operators, Hillman eliminated Booking Agents. This lack of overhead meant that his fares were cheap enough to attract large numbers of passengers.

The fares also compared very favourably with those charged on the much slower bus service that had been operating over the same route since 1921. Not surprisingly, heavy passenger traffic was built up very quickly.

In 1929 Chelmsford and Colchester joined his list of destinations, followed by Clacton in the following year (at fares of 5/- single, 8/- return).

By now Hillman had 12 coaches and his fleet was expanded by a further 34 between January and August 1930. Hillman’s venture was showing great promise.

By the spring of 1930 Hillman had 56 departures per day from Stratford. But then Hillman began to encounter opposition from other public service operators.

Because his fare charging was unlike that for long-distance coaches, his drivers would always stop to pick up a person if they hailed them and would charge a local fare for a short trip. There were no timetables or bus stops and thus a Hillman coach could scoop up many people waiting for other coaches.

By the end of 1930 Hillman was operating 57 coaches. During the summer there were six runs a day to Ipswich, two each to Norwich and Yarmouth. The long distance return fares were 5/- to Ipswich, 6/- to Yarmouth and 7/6d to Norwich. It should be remembered that although these fares seem low to us today, the average good wage in 1930 was £3 per week. Also, the public mainly utilised the long distance coaches for holidays. The idea of the paid holiday for all workers was still very much a pipe-dream. A coach trip enabled a short vacation to be taken over a weekend.

By 1931 Hillman had opened a coach station at 133 Bow Road (near to Bow Church). His services were running every 5 to 10 minutes to Brentwood, every 15 minutes to Chelmsford and from hourly to two-hourly to Colchester.

Extra coaches were operated in rush hours and on Saturday afternoons giving a 2.5-5 minute service to Romford. Commuters were well catered for, season tickets being issued for monthly and quarterly periods. A number of other companies tried to imitate Hillman’s obvious success – including Jean-Pierre Hensman with his Sunset Pullman (operating from his garage in Brook Street, Brentwood) and the fledgling Green Line, both of which commenced in 1930 - but it was obvious that Hillman had captured the cream of the traffic.

Hillman needed larger premises. He bought a large house and grounds opposite what is now Cottons Park in London Road, Romford.

The house became the registered office of Edward Hillmans Saloon Coaches Ltd on 10th August 1932, with an authorised capital of £50,000. A large garage was soon built in the grounds with a front entrance off London Road and side exit into Cotleigh Road.

Hillman employed over 300 in Romford alone, running his theoretical 15 minute service. That was what the timetable stated, but the drivers drove hard in order to take as many customers as possible.

At an inquest on an accident in Ilford it was disclosed that the drivers earned £2/10/- per week but they also earned commission on numbers of passengers carried and speed.

By 1932 Hillman coaches were making 70 departures daily, taking 55 minutes from Bow Road to Brentwood at a fare of 1/- single. By April 1933 there was a coach every seven and a half minutes from 3.30am to 1.00am – hence the claim that ‘there was never a Hillman’s coach out of sight on Brook Street Hill, Brentwood’ !

All but one of Hillman’s coaches were single-deckers built by Gilford, of High Wycombe. They had extremely lightweight fabric bodies built by Gilford’s associated company Wycombe Motor Bodies. They had American Lycoming petrol engines – hence their speed – and made a considerable contrast with ‘GENERAL’s slow double –deckers on the same road.

The coaches were painted white above a dark blue waistband and silver below. They were roomy and well sprung, but the drivers drove them like stage-coaches in order to overtake all others on the road

Hillman made sure of service regularity himself by cruising up and down the road in his Rolls-Royce. If he saw a coach running behind time he would stop it, sack the driver and drive the coach himself. The employment situation being what it was he would quite likely re-install the man the following week.

Hillman’s pride and joy was a unique 1929 six-wheeled AEC-engined luxury coach with a 32-seat Harrington body, used solely for private hire work.

Hillman formed an associate company, Upminster Coaches on 15th June 1932 , following the failure of rival company Woodgrange Coaches who also used Gilfords. Woodgrange’s vehicles had been repossessed by manufacturers Gilford, but from 12th February 1931 permitted Edward Hillman to run the London-Upminster service on their behalf.

Following appeals in the traffic courts, the Ministry of Transport imposed certain conditions on the service, including the imposition of a 1/- minimum fare as from 23rd January 1933.

Two strikes were suffered in 1933. the first in March, the second in July. During the latter, Hillman dismissed ALL the strikers and employed new staff, recruited from as far away as Clacton.

The same year the impact of the Road Traffic Act was felt as the Ministry of Transport ruled that a minimum 6d stage should apply instead of the previous 1d or 3d stages. This proved to be the start of the decline of Hillman’s Coaches.

The formation of the London Passenger Transport Board on 13th April 1933 ended all private coach operation within the extensive London Transport area. The loss of the London coaching business was to prove instrumental in the closure of both the Gilford company and the Wycombe Motor Bodies at the end of 1935.

Although he now operated 92 coaches, Edward Hillman was beginning to lose interest in the coaching scene and was already contemplating another business venture.

He claimed that his passenger traffic had fallen by 75% and was thus keen to get rid of his coach-operations. He virtually demanded that the newly formed LPTB should take over his coach services.

LPTB acquired both Brentwood and Upminster services on 10th January 1934 taking 65 of Hillman’s coach fleet of 92 vehicles which they kept running until 1936.

London Transport made sure that they also kept the 1929 six-wheeled luxury coach which became the pride of their private hire fleet. However, their pride was dramatically curtailed when on 22nd October 1940 a fire bomb hit Bull Yard, Peckham where it and the majority of the London Transport Private Hire fleet were being stored.

48 vehicles including the ex-Hillman coach were totally destroyed. Neither Hillman nor LPTB had had more than five years service out of this magnificent coach.

As well as Hillman’s coaches and services, London Transport also took over his London Road garage. Under LPTB both services were extended to Aldgate. Aldgate to Brentwood service became Green Line route Y. (later Y1) and the Aldgate to Upminster service became AY. (later Y2)

After WWII these were renumbered as Green Line routes 721 and 722 always running from the ex-Hillman garage in London Road, Romford. Both routes remained largely intact until falling patronage forced the closures of Route 722 (Aldgate to Upminster) on) on 2nd August 1968 and Route 721 (Aldgate to Brentwood ) on 2nd July 1977.

Hillman’s London Road garage was closed in 1977 and the site sold.

Hillman carried on using his remaining 26 vehicles from the Bow Road site on the services beyond Brentwood until 13th August 1934 when they too were disposed of. Nine went to the Eastern National Omnibus Company – who extended their Route 10 (Chelmsford-Brentwood) right through to Bow.

Hillman’s former Colchester journeys were merged with the Clacton express route of Eastern National. Hillman’s remaining coaches (18) were sold to LPTB as was the Bow Road depot. LPTB had no need of the depot and sold it.

Thus ends the story of Hillman Coaches, one of only 5.5 eventful years.

But that is only HALF of the story !!!

PART 2: Hillman Airways

By 1931 Edward Hillman was becoming tired of road transport. He bought a 2-passenger De Havilland Puss Moth (G-ABSB) and took a lease on Maylands Aerodrome, Maylands Farm, Harold Wood (now the golf-course).

He took over the aerodrome licence on 26th November with just one 'plane. His first flights were for charter or taxi-work.

In April 1932 Hillman’ Airways established a service to Clacton using two or more Puss Moths and some Fox Moths.

The planes were in blue and silver livery just as the coaches had been.

The journey took 30 minutes each way (compared with the three hours for a coach journey) at a fare of 12/6 single or £1 return.

This new service proved to be very popular and during the next year services were extended to Manston for the Thanet towns.

Hillman publicised his new venture with the ‘Essex Air Pageant’ at Maylands on 24th September 1932 (attended by 20,000 people).

Financial success did not come easily, though. For the first year there was a trading loss of £670 and a total debt of £1603.

The popularity of this venture encouraged Hillman. He maintained that the customer was always right. His ultimate aim was to provide a cheap and regular flight to Paris. but realised that this could only be accomplished with a suitable ‘plane.

A landmark in aviation history was about to be reached!

Hillman went see the boss of De Havilland – Geoffrey (later Sir Geoffrey) De Havilland about the design of a new aircraft.

According to one of Hillman’s pilots, Hillman always regarded himself as responsible for the design of the new plane. Hillman reputedly said: “ I went to old De Havilland and I says, “look mate, I want an aeroplane that can carry ten people, and I want two of your Gypsy Moth engines in it. I’ll draw you a picture of what I want”. I drew the picture and there you are, the Dragon”.

Sir Geoffrey De Havilland did not refute this claim but related another version: He stated that the Dragon was already on the drawing board for an order for the Iraqi air force. It is likely that Hillman saw the drawing as his sketch seemed similar.

In his autobiography, Sky Fever, Sir Geoffrey De Havilland refers to his meeting with Hillman : ‘His enthusiasm was contagious, and we at once looked into an eight–seater airliner using two four-cylinder Gypsy Major engines and Tiger Moth extension wings. The fuselage, tail unit, landing gear, controls, etc., were of course new. The success of the Dragon design was largely due to Hillman’s far-sighted and courageous action in ordering a small fleet of them off the drawing board ‘

Hillman ordered four of the planes and later increased the order to six, giving his 92 coaches as security. This order guaranteed the success of the plane, of which 202 were built.

The Dragon brought a new look to British Aviation. The prototype first flew from De Havilland’s airfield at Stag Lane, Hatfield on 12th December 1932. Eight days later it flew into Maylands where it was named ‘Maylands’ at a brief ceremony by Amy Mollinson (nee Johnson).

Within a few months the design of the Dragon was improved by the implementation of six-cylinder engines, this revised version being known as the DH89 Dragon Rapide of which 727 were built. A few Dragon Rapides are still flying. The plane has one of the longest safe service flying records.

Edward Hillman ignored superstition and commenced a twice-daily air service to Paris on 1st April 1933. The journey took 2 hours and cost £3 single or £5/10/- return compared to Imperial Airways £5 single and £8/10/- return. There was also a weekend return for £4/15/-

Hillman’s fares included the cost of a coach ride from London and a car from Le Bourget to Paris. The low fares that he introduced were as revolutionary as Ryanair fares today.

Naturally low fares called for low wages and some of the ex-RAF pilots that he employed objected to being paid the same as a coach driver. The airline grew rapidly, by now registered as Hillman’s Airways Ltd.

For the first six weeks Amy Mollinson flew as the first regular woman pilot in order to gain flying experience prior to the England-Australia air race.

Hillman’s took over a Liverpool, Belfast, and London service from Midland and Scottish Air Ferries in July 1934. Maylands was strictly limited in size – its landing area measured only 2,550 ft x 1095 ft and soon became too small for Hillman’s operations.

It was at that time that Hillman transferred his base to Stapleford Abbots. Confusingly this was known as London East Airport, Essex Airport, Abridge or Stapleford Abbots !

Additional flights went to Ronaldsway (IOM) and Aldergrove (Belfast). Despite the popularity, the airline amassed losses for the year 1933-4 of £4,698, but by September 1934 the new services operated by the Dragons and Rapides had provided a profit of £3,547.

Sustained pressure from Railway Air Services which had caused Midland & Scottish to withdraw, forced Hillman’s to abandon the route again in September 1934 until the Post Office Mail Contract was captured from Railway Air Services. On 1st December 1934 one Dragon and one Dragon Rapide took to the air on this Mail service. The service would take any mail posted after the last normal London collection without surcharge, loading it at Stapleford onto the 10am flight.

This daily service was later extended to include Glasgow.

During that year’s summer service 163 passengers per week were carried on the Paris route compared with 73 during the previous year.

On 12th December 1934 Hillman’s Airways became a public company with a capital of £150,000 in 5/- shares. Sir Charles Harris was elected as chairman, Edward Hillman as managing director and his son as works manager.

On 31st December 1934, just over six years since he bought his first coach, Edward Hillman suffered a fatal blood clot at the age of 45.

Hillman’s death robbed the transport scene locally of one of its most flamboyant characters. The local newspaper printed his widow’s request that’ the attendance of all former employees will be appreciated by the family’.

They clearly responded in some numbers since the Romford Recorder of 4th Jan 1935 reported that crowds to the funeral service at St.Andrew’s Church in Romford had caused a traffic jam half a mile long. The coffin was carried by Green Line (i.e. former Hillman’s) employees followed by many official representatives. Of the 9 carriages, 3 carried wreaths in the form of aeroplanes.

Sadly Edward’s wife, Eliza also died prematurely less than two years later.

Edward and Eliza are buried in Romford Crow Lane Cemetery, the tombstone bearing a carved representation of a De Havilland Dragon Rapide.

It is possible that Hillman’s death hastened the subsequent amalgamation with Spartan and United Airways later in 1935. With the loss of the coach revenue the financial state of the old company sank and it was only the merger and the opening of new services from Heston that saved it.

The new airline was registered under the name of Allied British Airways on 29th September 1935 but one month later it had dropped the ‘Allied’ to become ‘British Airways’. Soon the airline was flying from Croydon and Gatwick where it proved to be an embarrassment to Imperial Airways as they were now flying Fokkers and Lockheeds.

When Neville Chamberlain flew to meet Hitler, British Airways had to lend him a plane as there was no British-built one available in the national (i.e. Imperial) fleet.

At that time the Government had set up a Royal Commission to examine the state of British civil aviation. They recommended that British and Imperial Airways should be merged to form BOAC. Now, of course, this has in turn merged with BEA to form (once again) British Airways.

Maylands is now a golf-course, the hangars having been destroyed by fire in 1940. Stapleford continues as an operational aerodrome , although its international airline facilities were moved to Gatwick in 1935, whilst Hillman’s Airways ceased to exist after December of that year.

That all this should have started from a little field on the A12 in Harold Wood is remarkable.

Even more remarkable is that the Maylands site is only a few hundred yards from the home of the Wrights of Dagnams, from whom were descended the Wright brothers who changed the modern world on a bleak day in Kittyhawke in 1904.

As a finale, the incredible truth about Edward Hillman is that he was illiterate. (He could read but not write). He taught himself to drive and fly, all with a wooden leg !

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