Richard L. Hills

. He founded Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry.

He was born on 1st September 1936 at Lee Green, Middlesex, the second son of Leslie Hills and Margaret Magalen Miller (the youngest daughter of John Ontario Miller).

He currently lives near Hyde in Cheshire. His interests include gardening, walking and vintage cars.Fact|date=May 2008

Education

* Charterhouse School, Godalming, Kent; 1950 - 1955; Classics
* Queen's College, Cambridge; 1957 - 62; Historical Tripos and Certificate of Education
* Imperial College, London; 1964 - 65; Diploma
* University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology; 1965 - 1968; Ph. D. Thesis
* St. Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, Flintshire; 1985 - 87; General Ordination Examination

Career

* National Service; Second Lieutenant, 26 Regiment, Royal Artillery; 1955 - 57
* Teaching at Earmley School, Sussex and Worcester College for the Blind
* Founding Curator/Director of the North Western Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester; 1965 - 85
* Curate at St. Clements, UrmstonGreater, Manchester; St. Pauls, Great Yarmouth, Suffolk and St. Michael and All Angels, Mottram in Longdendale, Cheshire
* Honorary Reader in History of Science and Technology, UMIST

Bibliography and Other Writings

* "Machines, Mills and Uncountable Costly Necessities: A Short History of Drainage of the Fens" (1967)
* "Power in the Industrial Revolution" (1970)
* "Richard Arkwright and Cotton Spinning" (1973)
* "Beyer-Peacock, Locomotive Builders to the World" (1982)
* "Paper Making in Britain, 1488-1988: A Short History" (1988)
* "Power from Steam: A History of the Stationary Steam Engine" (1989)
* "Power from Wind: A History of Windmill Technology" (1993)
* "The Origins of the Garratt Locomotive" (2000)
* "James Watt: Volume 1: His time in Scotland, 1736-1774" (2002)
* "Life and Inventions of Richard Roberts" (2002)
* "The Drainage of the Fens" (2003)
* "Windmills, A Pictorial History of Their Technology" (2000)
* "James Watt: Volume 2: His time in England, 1774-1815" (2005)
* "James Watt: Volume 3: Triumph through Adversity, 1785-1819" (2006)

Dr Hills has written well over one hundred articles Fact|date=May 2008 in journals such as Newcomen Society Transactions, Manchester Memoirs, Railway Magazine, Railway World, Notes and Records of the Royal Society, Journal of the Textile Institute, Industrial Archaeology, The Quarterly (Journal of the British Association of Paper Historians), International Association of Paper Historians Year Book, Technology and Culture, History of Technology, Museum Association Journal, Snowdon Ranger (Welsh Highland Railway Society), Textile History and the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

He has made contributions to the following and other encyclopedias, etc. Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology, Encyclopedia of the History of Technology, New Dictionary of the National Biography, Oxford Companion to the Book and Reader's Guide to the History of Science.

Offices, Awards and Honors

Dr Hills has held the following positions in the listed societies at various times:

* Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society - Member of Council
* Manchester Region Industrial Archeology Society - Chairman, Secretary, now an Honorary Member
* International Association of Paper Historians - President, now an Honorary Member
* British Association of Paper Historians - Founding President, now an Honorary Member
* Newcomen Society for the History of Engineering - Member of Council, Chairman of the North West Branch
* Manchester Association of Engineers - Member of Council, Editor, President - http://www.mae.uk.com
* Society of Ordained Scientists - Secretary

He has been given the following awards and honors

* Award of Merit, Cambridge Education Diploma
* Abbot Payson Usher Prize, 1973 (R. L. Mills and A. J. Pacey, “The Measurement of Power in the Early Steam-driven Textile Mills,” Technology and Culture 13 (1972): 25–43)
* Companion of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
* Honorary Life Vice President, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester