William Hill was a businessman and inventor of William Hill, the British betting and gambling company. Hill was born in Birmingham, left school at the age of 12, and began working with his uncle. The first clues that he would be a successful bookmaker owner were while he was working in a factory where he collected bets on his motorbike from workers. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested and, after serving his sentence for driving as a minor, moved to London. There he collected bets on greyhounds before the opening of the first illicit gambling den back in 1934.