Richard Leslie Hills is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 historian who has written extensively on the history of technology, particularly steam power. He founded Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

's Museum of Science and Industry

Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England, is a large museum devoted to the development of science, technology, and industry with emphasis on the city's achievements in these fields...

.

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

John Ontario Miller

Sir John Ontario Miller, KCSI was a British civil servant in India. He was born in Toronto, Canada, the eldest son of Robert Schaw Miller and Eliza Miller...

).

He currently lives near Hyde in Cheshire. His interests include gardening, walking and vintage cars.

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

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