Background
Hillman was born on 13 November 1848 in Stratford, Essex, where his father, also called William, was a shoemaker. His mother was Sarah Stitchbury.
Hillman was born on 13 November 1848 in Stratford, Essex, where his father, also called William, was a shoemaker. His mother was Sarah Stitchbury.
Hillman and Starley moved to the expanding industrial area of the English Midlands, where they were employed by the Coventry Sewing Machine Company. Sales of sewing machines had declined, and to compensate the company had become the first British manufacturers of bicycles, using designs based on French "boneshakers". The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 halted bicycle manufacture in France and led to a boom in British production.
As well as bicycles Hillman"s company made roller-skates, sewing machines, and ball and roller bearings, of which it pioneered the mass production.
Hillman was soon operating four factories in Coventry, and by 1896 a fifth in Germany. His success made him a millionaire, and allowed him to move to Abingdon House, an "impressive home" in Stoke Aldermoor, now a suburb of Coventry.