Bow & Bridge

Hill, John

As printed

  1. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794.

    scan page 55, line 21See the scan

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    scan page 55, line 21

    2. Hill, Henry Lockey, son of Lockey Hill; grandson of Joseph Hill; b. 1774; d. Aug., 1835. Worked for some time with John Betts, was probably still with him when he took patterns (still preserved by the firm) of a Stradivari violoncello, sent by Friedrich Wilhelm III. of Prussia to John Betts in 1810, to be sold in England. He was an excellent workman, and some violins, violas, and violoncellos of his are exceptionally good instruments. Of his four sons, Henry (d. 1856) was a fine viola player, Joseph (d. 1837) and William Ebsworth were both makers.
    4. Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794.
    6. Hill, Joseph, b. 1715; d. 1784. He was a fellow-apprentice of Banks, working at "Ye Harp and Hautboy," in Piccadilly, London, under Peter Wamsley, about 1740-42. Then worked in High Holborn (1753), then at the sign of "Ye Violin," in Angel Court, Westminster (1756), and lastly at the sign of the "Harp and Flute" in the Haymarket (1762). Later on, his sons became partners in the business. His instruments are of great merit; his violoncellos and double-basses are especially liked, some have a fine oil varnish. Label: "Joseph Hill, maker at the 'Harp and Flute' in the Haymarket, 17 London, 69"; similar labels are dated 1772. His sons, William, Joseph, Lockey, and Benjamin, were all makers.

  2. A dictionary of violin makers (n.d.)

    Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794.

    scan page 57, line 21See the scans: 57, 57source record

    Read the transcript line

    This is what the software read off the scan, not the page itself. The cited line is marked, and three lines either side are shown for context.

    scan page 57, line 21

    2. Hill, Henry Lockey, son of Lockey Hill; grandson of Joseph Hill; b. 1774; d. Aug., 1835. Worked for some time with John Betts, was probably still with him when he took patterns (still preserved by the firm) of a Stradivari violoncello, sent by Friedrich Wilhelm III. of Prussia to John Betts in 1810, to be sold in England. He was an excellent workman, and some violins, violas, and violoncellos of his are exceptionally good instruments. Of his four sons, Joseph (d. 1837) and William Ebsworth were both makers.
    4. Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794.
    6. Hill, Joseph, b. 1715; d. 1784. He was a fellow-apprentice of Banks, working at "Ye Harp and Hautboy," in Piccadilly, London, under Peter Wamsley, about 1740-42. Then worked in High Holborn (1753), then at the sign of "Ye Violin," in Angel Court, Westminster (1756), and lastly at the sign of the "Harp and Flute" in the Haymarket (1762). Later on, his sons became partners in the business. His instruments are of great merit; his violoncellos and double-basses are especially liked, some have a fine oil varnish. Label: "Joseph Hill, maker at the 'Harp and Flute' in the Haymarket, 17 London, 69"; similar labels are dated 1772. His sons, William, Joseph, Lockey, and Benjamin, were all makers.

  3. Old violins (1905)

    HILL, John. Red Lion Street, Holborn, 1794.

    scan page 279, line 10See the scan

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    scan page 279, line 10

    1. HENRY. A violin bow-maker; 1812 at Mirecourt; 1870, Paris; worked with Chanot; made excellent bows.
    2. HILDEBRANDT, Michael Christopher. Hamburg, 1765-1800; good work; fine repairer.
    3. HILL, Henry Lockey, son of Lockey Hill; grandson of Joseph Hill; b. 1774; d. Aug. 1835. (For Hill family see p. 133).
    4. HILL, John. Red Lion Street, Holborn, 1794.
    5. HILL, Joseph, b. 1715; d. 1784. He was a fellow-apprentice of Banks, working at "Ye Harp and Hautboy," in Piccadilly, London, under Peter Wamsley, about 1740-42. Worked till 1772. His sons, William, Joseph, Lockey, and Benjamin, were all makers.
    6. HILL, William, son of Joseph Hill. Worked in London about 1740-80.
    7. HILL, William Ebsworth, son of Henry Lockey Hill, 1817-95. The present members of the firm are his four eldest sons: William Henry, b. June 3, 1857, followed the musical profession for some years before joining his brothers in the business; Arthur Frederick, b. Jan. 25, 1860; Alfred Ebsworth, b. Feb. 1862, who worked for some time at Mirecourt (Vosges), and was the first Englishman to go there to study; and Walter Edgar, b. Nov. 4, 1871, who also worked at Mirecourt. They employ a large staff of assistants in their workshops at Hanwell. (See p. 133.)

Named in 3 books printed between 1896 and 1905. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 3 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

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Details and sources

Record note

This record exists because one or more sources name this maker. Printed in: A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1896); Old violins (1905). Nothing else on this site confirms this record beyond what those sources state — no claim is invented here. Entries from 3 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record. Not established is the honest state of this record; if you can change that, we want to hear from you.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794. reported1
Places and dates of work
Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794. reported1
Places and dates of work
Hill, John. A maker who apparently worked in Red Lion Street, Holborn, was there, at any rate, in 1794. reported1
Places and dates of work
HILL, John. Red Lion Street, Holborn, 1794. reported1

How the pages were read

4 of the 4 lines here were read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words), not by a person looking at the page image. 2 of them rest on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on their own line: “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS.”, “DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS”.

Notes

  1. Read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words, or a typed transcription), not by a person looking at the page image. ↩

The books behind this record

This record draws on 3 sources. Each is listed below with how it was read, because a claim read from a photo of the page is stronger than one read from machine text.

  1. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 57, line 21

  2. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol1899stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol1899stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 57, line 21

  3. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London ; New York: Novello, Ewer, 1896). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai_0. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai_0.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 55, line 21

  4. Haweis, H. R. (Hugh Reginald), 1839-1901, Old violins (Edinburgh, Grant, 1905). archive.org, oldviolins00hawe. https://archive.org/details/oldviolins00hawe.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 279, line 10