William Hill

William Hill (16 July 1903 – 15 October 1971) was an English businessman who was the founder of William Hill, the British bookmaking firm.

Born in Birmingham, Hill left school at the age of twelve to work on his uncle's farm. While working in a factory in Birmingham he started collecting illegal bets from local people on his motorcycle.

After the hopeless failure of his first foray into bookmaking, he moved to London in 1929 where he started taking bets on greyhounds before opening an illicit gambling den in Jermyn Street in 1934.

In 1938, he was the joint owner of Lone Keel who went on to win the 1938 English Greyhound Derby.

In 1944, he produced the first fixed-odds football coupon. after his competitors had stolen a march on him. He retired in 1970 and died in Newmarket the following year, aged 68.

Family In 1923, he married Ivy Burley and together they had one daughter, Kathleen Hill. In 1961, he had a second daughter, Miranda Baker, with his partner Sheila Baker.