(1). English family of organ builders. The firm started as Elliot & Hill in 1825 but from 1832 was managed alone by William Hill (1789-1870), whose early work included huge organs for York Minster (1829-33) and Birmingham Town Hall (1832-4). The work of his middle period (1838- c1858), associated with a radical redesign of the English organ, shows an awareness of historic European methods as well as a desire to provide an instrument for performing Bach and choral and orchestral transcriptions. Manual and pedal choruses were extended to include 16′ tone, with a pedal compass of C to d′ or e′; manual compasses (including the Swell) were standardized as C to f‴; and a variety of novelty registers was provided. Among the resulting ‘German system’ organs were those at Christ Church, Newgate Street (1838), Worcester Cathedral (1842) and the Royal Panopticon, Leicester Square (1854; the first to substitute steam power for manual blowing). Hill's later organs, using equal temperament and retaining a bright, rich tonal character, included those for St Albans Abbey (1860) and Melbourne Town Hall (1870).
William's son Thomas (1822/3-93) built instruments on the same lines, notably the vast Sydney Town Hall organ (1886-90); his son Arthur George (1857-1923), a skilled draughtsman, presided over a less vigorous, ‘Edwardian’ phase of organ building, opulent but slightly old-fashioned.
In 1916 the firm amalgamated with Norman & Beard of Norwich. Since 1945 it has been a chief supporter of the organ reform movement in England, restoring or building important instruments at Norwich Cathedral, Bath Abbey and the Royal College of Organists, London.
(2). English firm of violin and bow makers, restorers and valuers. It was active in London from the mid-18th century. Its most important work has been in restoration, unprecedented at the time. With William Ebsworth Hill (1817-95), and especially under the supervision of his four sons, notably Alfred Ebsworth (1862-1940), thousands of fine string instruments were saved by ingenuity and meticulous workmanship. The firm's bow workshop, established in the 1890s, set a new, unsurpassed standard in England.
