Gordon Hill
HILL, Gordon Barratt, CMG BE DPhil.(Oxon) FIEAust FAIB FAIArb (1916-1984)
Gordon Barratt Hill was born on 6 December 1916 at Claremont to William Barratt Hill and Edith Marianne Hill (nee Wustemann Howgate). His father was an investor and left the substantial estate of £36,000 when he died in 1933.
Gordon was an outstanding all rounder at Scotch College. He was only 15 years old when he sat his Leaving and was dux of the College in 1932. An article in the Sunday Times dated 5 February 1933 (page 7) says: 'he passed his leaving examination in six subjects gaining distinction in mathematics, applied mathematics and industrial history. In applied mathematics he achieved the rare honour of securing 100 per cent.’ As he was too young to commence University, he was head prefect in 1934 and 1935. He was a champion athlete and rower and in 1935 was the stroke of the College’s Head of the River winning four.
Having gained a University Exhibition, he studied engineering from 1936 to 1940. Gordon continued his scholastic and athletic success with the announcement on 21 December 1939 that he had been selected as the West Australian Rhodes Scholar for 1940[1]. As well as the Rhodes scholarship, Gordon was awarded a blue for athletics, a half blue for rowing and in 1939 was elected president of the University Sports Council. In 1940 he was elected UWA Guild President as well as holding the position of President of the University Engineers Club.
During the war Gordon was unable to travel to Oxford and joined the Australian Army. He held the rank of Major in the Royal Corps of Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (RAEME)[2]. In 1946 he was able to get shipping to England and his Oxford years were from 1946 to 1949. On completion of his studies and travels in Europe, Dr Hill returned to UWA in December 1950 to lecture on structures during Prof. Frank Blakey'sabsence. In December 1951 Dr Hill was formally appointed as senior lecturer in Civil Engineering (Structures)[3].
In November 1954 Dr Hill resigned from UWA[4] and became the founding partner in the consultant engineering firm G B Hill and Partners. One of the firms first commissions was structural design for the T&G building on the south west corner of Barrack Street and St Georges Terrace, Perth’s first high rise building. A .pdf of information on a webpage by //'Pocket Oz Travel and Information Guide Perth'// describing the history of buildings on this site, including the 1960’s building which has been renamed to Citibank House, can be found here.
In the early 1970s the firm continued its structural engineering achievements including the ANZ bank building and Westpac Centre, again the tallest in Perth at that time. The firm then diversified into subdivision design with developments such as Leeming, Booragoon, Winthrop and Joondalup. The firm further diversified into water services including the Cape Peron Ocean outlet which won the Institution of Engineers Engineering Excellence Award in 1984.
Due to ill health, Dr Hill retired from the firm in 1981. Other partners continued and a history of G B Hill and Partners Pty Ltdwas prepared for the 40th anniversary of the firm in 1995. In 1998 the company merged with GHD.
On 1 September 1956 Gordon married Valerie (Val) Bailey. Rowing remained one of his keenest interests and he coached Scotch College’s first eight from 1955 to 1965. Dr Hill was also a keen sailor and a member of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.
In 1965-1967 Dr Hill was Chairman of the newly formed Association of Consulting Engineers, Western Australian Chapter. In 1970-1972 he was National President of the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia (ACEA) and in 1971 was also Chairman of the Western Australian Division of the Institution of Engineers. In 1972 he was elected foundation vice president of the Australian Water and Wastewater Association (WA) at its first general meeting and in 1977-1979 was WA Branch President.
Dr Hill was awarded a CMG[5] on 1 January 1979 for services to engineering.
Dr Hill died on 22 October 1984. An article in the West Australian on 24 October 1984 reported that: ‘Dr Gordon Barratt Hill (68), a prominent sportsman and eminent engineer, died in a house fire in Claremont on Monday night. An autopsy showed that he died from natural causes. The police believe that Dr Hill suffered a heart attack while smoking in bed.’ Dr Hill was survived by his wife Val who died on 8 September 2008.
References:
The Way 79 Who is Who, Margaret A Sacks (Editor), Crawley Publishers, 1980, p. 178.
Crawley, Newsletter of Convocation UWA, Vol. 15 No. 5, November/December 1985.
UNINEWS, A news sheet for distribution within the University of Western Australia, Vol. 3 No. 19, 26 November 1984.
Pocket Oz Travel and Information Guide Perth, Citibank House, Website at https://www.pocketoz.com.au/perth/citibank-hse.html, Accessed 9 April 2021.
