Hill was born at Walkerville, the eldest son of businessman and parliamentarian Henry Hill, he was educated at the Alberton school of the Presbyterian Rev. Mercer. Around 1858 he started work for his father in the goods department of Henry Hill & Co. which had a contract with the South Australian Railways. In 1866 the South Australian company Cobb & Co., an affiliate of the famous New South Wales stagecoach business, bought the business of William Rounsevell and John was put in charge. In 1873 Cobb & Co. sold this business to a company John Hill & Co., whose owners were Hill, H. R. Fuller and George Mills. Business expanded and in 1882 the firm was restructured as John Hill & Co., Limited. At various times more than 1,000 horses were in work at once across the State, but they were always just a few years ahead of the establishment of railways on the most profitable routes. The Mount Pleasant and Willunga coaches were the last of the familiar horse-drawn vehicles to be seen on the roads. In April 1888 Hill was appointed a member of the Board of Railways Commissioners, a position which he held for seven years at a salary of £1,009 a year. His colleagues were Messrs. J. H. Smith and A. S. Neill. He then returned to manage Hill & Co. In October 1911 Hill and erstwhile competitor Henry Graves founded Hill, Graves & Co., with a massive stone bulk store at Port Adelaide bounded by Timpson, Divett and Mempes Streets extensive stables in Pirie and Grenfell Streets and offices on North Terrace and in Gouger and George Streets, Adelaide. The company ceased trading at the end of 1920, but with business rationalised and transferred to H. Graves & Company. Hill was a prominent member of the Pirie Street Methodist Church for more than 60 years, and held numerous offices in connection with the church and Sunday school. and served on the General Wesleyan Conference in 1884, 1890 and 1894. He was at one time a member of the Board of Trustees of the Savings Bank. He took a keen interest in sports, particularly cricket, and scored the first century on the Adelaide Oval. He was a member of the Adelaide Oval Bowls Club for many years. Hill was Chairman of the finance committee and a member of the horse committee of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society for more than 30 years and President in 1905 and 1908, and he was made a life member a few months before he died at his home in Stanley Street, North Adelaide.
Family
Henry John Hill married Rebecca Eliza Saunders on 9 October 1867. They had eight sons and eight daughters, including:
Peter Hill
Arthur Hill
Frank Hill
Clement, the famous cricketer
Roy Hill was also a fine batsman; the first to score a century at Norwood Oval.
