The younger son of pioneer watercolourist Jesse Jewhurst Hilder, Brett Hilder was born in Epping, Sydney, in 1911. His father died when he was young and he was raised by his mother. As a young man he was offered free tuition from his father’s friend and mentor Julian Ashton, but declined the offer. In 1927 he joined Burns Philp & Company and, as one of their sailors, travelled to the Dutch East Indies and the South Pacific Islands. A decade later he became a ship’s master, and during World War II, taught navigation to Australian air crews and later flew Catalina flying boats for the Royal Australian Air Force.

After the war Hilder returned to his former profession and commanded vessels between Sydney and the Solomon Islands. During the war he started painting and drawing, creating many watercolour landscapes and portraits of the people and places he visited. These were exhibited in Sydney (1950) and Melbourne (1951). He also had shows in Port Moresby, Honiara and New York during the 1950s and 60s. He also exhibited his work with the Australian Watercolour Institute and the Royal Art Society of NSW.

Hilder wrote extensively on navigation and his travels for magazines such as Walkabout . In 1961 he wrote Navigator in the South Seas . Captain Hilder also founded the Australian Institute of Navigation and in 1964 became Senior Captain of Company with Burns Philp Ltd.

His interest in his father’s art career saw him write The Heritage of J.J. Hilder . This work was published in 1966 (the fiftieth anniversary of his father’s death) and supported a national touring exhibition of his father’s work organized by the Queensland Art Gallery. In this book Hilder corrected errors made in earlier texts about his father’s career, and also produced an expanded list of his father’s works. The 1966 book also included profiles of his artist brother Bim Hilder, and his own work. Brett Hilder died on the 9 April 1981.

Writers:

Silas Clifford-Smith

Date written:

2009

Last updated:

2011