Short answers, pulled from the story.
Arnold Frank Hills entered the world on the 12th of March 1857 in Denmark Hill, Surrey. His father worked as a manufacturing chemist and shaped the early environment of the boy who would later build empires.
The British mile champion title arrived for Arnold Hills in 1878 at the AAC Championships. He secured another major victory by winning the three-mile championship in 1879 and appeared for England against Scotland at the Kennington Oval on the 5th of April 1879.
Thames Iron Works operated as a large shipbuilding business in London since 1846 and Arnold Hills took charge as Managing Director to live among his workers for five years. The businessman organized recreational centers specifically for the labor force employed there but responded to a strike over poor pay by employing black labour to keep operations running.
Hills believed that his own local community deserved its own football team when he founded Thames Ironworks F.C. alongside Dave Taylor in the summer of 1895. He promised to buy one share for every single share sold to the public and rented the Memorial Grounds to the club at very favourable terms yet never attended an AGM or presented demands.
Hills served as the first President of the London Vegetarian Society starting in 1888 and worked alongside the young Mahatma Gandhi on the Executive Committee during this tenure. The activist also founded The Vegetarian magazine and established the Vegetarian Federal Union in 1889 while he authored Vital Food in 1892 arguing for a plant-based raw food diet.
He passed away at Hammerfield, Penshurst, Kent, on the 7th of March 1927 after developing arthritis that made him a virtual invalid before he died. His shareholding in West Ham consisted of 1100 out of 4000 shares available and a total of 1142 shares remained unsold until 1961 when they were finally distributed.