Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and activist. He notably made an appearance for the

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

in 1879. Hills was an advocate for temperance and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

, serving as president of the

London Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for vegetarian and vegan products, runs a cookery school and lottery, and or ...

and

Vegetarian Federal Union The Vegetarian Federal Union (VFU) was a British vegetarianism umbrella organisation founded in 1889, which operated until 1911. History In July 1889, a group of individuals from the London Vegetarian Society met and drew up plans to form what ...

Biography

Early life

Hills was born in

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the son of a manufacturing chemist.

Sports career

Arnold Hills was also a keen sportsman, who was the British mile champion, winning the 1878 AAC Championships title and the three-mile champion in 1879. In his youth had played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and cricket (he was Captain of the 1st XI) for his school team

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

. After leaving Harrow he attended

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

, where he earned the degree of

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

(1880) and two football blues. He appeared as a forward for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

as they finished runners-up in the 1877 FA Cup Final against Wanderers. He continued to play as an amateur for Old Harrovians after he left, even winning a Corinthian's Cap whilst there; for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 5 April 1879 at the

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

, when England won 5–4.

Business career

Hills was Managing Director of the Thames Iron Works, a large

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

business in London which had existed since 1846. He chose to live for five years among his workers in a small house in the East India Dock Road in

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

and organised recreational centres for them. However, he caused some bitterness when there was a strike over poor pay and working conditions by employing 'black' labour. In the summer of 1895 Hills, along with Dave Taylor, helped found

Thames Ironworks F.C. Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor (Thames Ironworks F.C. founder), Dave Taylor in ...

, who later became

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He believed that his own local community should have its own football team and financially supported the football club until April 1900, when after increasing disagreements with West Ham's board members over the pursuit of 'professionalism', he broke formal ties with the club and the Thames Ironworks. Hills proposed a

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

as a limited company and became the major shareholder, and encouraged business associates, family and his workmen to invest, promising to buy one share for every one sold to the public. He rented the

Memorial Grounds Memorial Grounds was an outdoor stadium in West Ham that served as the home of Thames Ironworks F.C. from the beginning of the 1897–98 Thames Ironworks F.C. season, 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. seaso ...

to the club at very favourable terms. Hills told the new directors he would not interfere in the running of the club and was true to his word and despite being by far the largest single shareholder never attended an AGM, ask to address a meeting or present any demands or suggestions.

Vegetarianism

Hills was the first President of the

(1888) serving alongside the young

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

on the Executive Committee. He was also the first President of the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club and also served as President of a London Vegetarian Rambling Club. He founded ''The Vegetarian'', an independent magazine, as well as the

(1889), of which he was also President. Hills also had close ties with the Temperance League. He founded the Oriolet Fruitarian Hospital at

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

, under the medical direction of

Josiah Oldfield Josiah Oldfield (28 February 1863 – 2 February 1953) was an English lawyer, physician, activist, and writer. He promoted his own variant of fruitarianism, which was virtually indistinguishable from lacto-ovo vegetarianism. Oldfield was a proli ...

. Hills authored ''Vital Food'' (1892) which argued for a plant-based

raw food Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the diet (nutrition), dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is cooking, uncooked and processed food, unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and resu ...

diet. Charles W. Forward's 1898 book on vegetarian history, ''Fifty Years of Food Reform'' was dedicated to Hills.

Later life and death

The failing fortunes of the ironworks and his involvement in developing a new car engine pushed the club into the background and he became a virtual invalid suffering from

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

. He died at Hammerfield,

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, in 1927 aged 69, and was buried at St Luke's Church in Penshurst. His shareholding in West Ham of 1100 out of 4000 (1142 shares remained unsold until 1961) passed to his family and the same arrangements remained. In 2014 as part of their preparation for their move to the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

, West Ham announced one of the corporate entertainment areas would be a private dining club, the Arnold Hills suite.

Publications

*''Vital Food'' (1892) *''Vegetarian Essays'' (1897) *''Essays on Vegetarianism'' (1910)

References

External links

Arnold Hills
nbsp;— information from the International Vegetarian Union
Arnold Hills
nbsp;— biography on the Oxford University Association Football Club website

— biography at

Spartacus Educational Spartacus Educational is a free online encyclopedia with essays and other educational material on a wide variety of historical subjects, principally the struggle for equality and democracy as part of British history from 1700 and the history of ...

Port of London History
nbsp;— information about the Thames Ironworks company {{DEFAULTSORT:Hills, Arnold 1857 births 1927 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Men's association football forwards English vegetarianism activists England men's international footballers English businesspeople English men's footballers English philanthropists English temperance activists Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth Harrow Chequers F.C. players Oxford University A.F.C. players People associated with the Vegetarian Society People educated at Harrow School Raw foodists Wanderers F.C. players