Arnold Hills Profile

Club Career

England Career

Beyond England

In 1880 Hills joined the board of his father's company, Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding. He initially lived in the East India Dock Road in Canning Town. He became concerned about the living conditions of the local people. Hills commented that "the lack of recreational facilities was one of the worst deprivations in the lives of West Ham residents". He added "the perpetual difficulty of West Ham is its poverty, it is rich only in its population."  Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding occupied 30 acres of land at West Ham on the Essex side of Bow Creek and was London's last surviving major shipbuilding firm. In 1860 it had employed 6,000 men, but by 1880 it was in decline and was suffering from serious competition from companies based on the Clyde and in the north of England.  Hills moved out of his house in Canning Town when he married Mary Elizabeth Lafone in 1886. Over the next few years she gave birth to one son and four daughters. On the death of his father, Hills became the managing director of the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Company.  
Hills was also the first President of the London Vegetarian Society in 1888, and the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club, and served as President of a London Vegetarian Rambling Club.  He founded The Vegetarian, an independent magazine, as well as the Vegetarian Federal Union in 1889, of which he was also President.  He also had close ties with the Temperence League. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1971). Hatton Press, p.120./Oxford University Association Football Club website./Spartacus Educational Net.