William Richard HILLYER [1897-1965]

When William Richard Hillyer was born on 24 October 1897 in Old Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, his father, William Richard Hillyer Snr., was 31 and his mother, Martha Ellen Hillyer nee. Swain, was 20. He married Violet Bamsey-Taylor and they had one son together. He had two sons and two daughters with Anita Mary Hillyer nee. Silice y Escobar. He died on 1 November 1965 at the age of 68, and was buried in New South Wales.

Thanks for the extra information, I've updated his page.

The list of internees says he was working in the Harbour Department when war was declared.

Barbara Anslow's letters mention that Mr Hillyer was in Hong Kong in 1946 (see letter from 25th July). Did he stay on in Hong Kong for much longer after that?

William Richard Hillyer (M.B. E) was working as the harbormaster of Hong Kong when war was declared and was a veteran from WW1, who served for the British.

His married his first wife Violet Bamsey-Taylor (daughter of W.F. Bamsey, the manager of the Hong Kong and China Gas Company, Kowloon), in Hong Kong on the 1st of February 1925 at St John's Anglican Cathedral. He and Violet lived on Green Island, Hong Kong in the Green Island Lighthouse for much of marriage. William and Violet took a delayed honeymoon returning to his hometown in England where his son Peter Hillyer was born. Violet suffered a brain hemorrhage 2 days after the birth of Peter and passed away on the 28th of November 1926. The next year on the 20th of March 1927 William and Peter returned to Hong Kong, Peter died as an infant at a later date of dysentery. Later William wed his second wife Anita Mary Silice y Escobar, a Spanish Fillipino born in Manila on the 13th of February 1907. They were also married in Hong Kong on the 24th of January 1931. His daughter Josephine Mary Hillyer (now McMahon) was born on the 9th of December 1931 in the French Convent Hospital in Hong Kong. His son William Richard Hillyer III was born on another trip in which he and his family returned to the English midlands between 1931 and 1933 on October 18th 1933 in Stony Stratford (Northampton). The family returned to Hong Kong at some point between 1933 and 1935 and on October 25th 1935 his daughter Annette Hillyer (now Tapsell) was born in the French Convent Hospital, Hong Kong. At some point between 1935 and 1940 the family then moved to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia where they established their home. Their final child Anthony Brian Hillyer was born on the 26th of November 1940 in St Margaret's Hospital Darlinghurst.

At some point William Richard Hillyer returned to Hong Kong to work as the Harbormaster at which time he was interned at the Stanley Civilian Internment Camp as a non-Chinese foreign national. At some stage between 1946 and 1965 he returned to Australia and passed away in his Beverly Hills home in Sydney on the 3rd of November 1965. He was buried at Rookwood Cemetery. However it is known he remained in Hong Kong after 1946 for some amount of time.