Family background
Rowland Hill was married to Ann Elizabeth Pierce. They lived in and ran the Enmore Hotel on the corner of Edgeware Road and Camden Street from 1859. After his death on 7 May 1876, she continued running the hotel. She died in 1894. They had five surviving children at the time of his death.
Community activity
Rowland Hill promoted a sports meeting in the paddock at the bottom of Campbell Street in the late 1860s (according to Arthur Crocker in the Municipal Jubilee Souvenir). The sports included quarter-mile hurdle races, wrestling, putting-the-shot and climbing the greasy pole; other sports of the day were skittles, quoits and wood-chopping. This was not unusual as these activities encouraged drinking among the spectators and participants.
Local government service
Rowland Hill was an alderman on Newtown Council in 1864-66, representing Enmore Ward.
References
‘Biographies of the Early Aldermen’, Newtown Project website: http://newtownproject.com.au/local-council-info/biographies/18
‘Family Notices’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 May 1876, p. 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13373336