Albert Bert Spencer (1886-) was born in Balmain Sydney, younger son of Henrik Henry Spencer, a Danish labourer and his wife Alice. The father died when Bert was a toddler, meaning the 3 siblings were raised by a struggling mother.
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Spencer’s mother was the inspiration for all his endeavours, introducing him to the wonders of reading, and she borrowed books from neighbours since there was no money to buy them. He went to Waverley Public School where he began his life-long love of poetry, with support from a sympathetic teacher. At 14 he was forced to leave school to work in a boot factory, cutting out boot uppers. Luckily he left after 8 months to become a messenger-boy with the book sellers and publishers, Angus & Robertson.
Spencer fell in love with a girl he planned to marry. They courted for several years but she died in her early 20s. In Jan 1909 Spencer married pianist Eileen Rebecca O'Connor at Woollahra Presbyterian Church.
For 22 years (1900-22) at Angus and Robertson's, Spencer learned the trade from its Australian masters, George Robertson and his employee Fred Wymark. He regularly delivered books to home of David S Mitchell, whose amazing collection formed the Mitchell Library.
Spencer became head of Angus and Robertson's Second-Hand Department, and the confidant of Sydney collectors like Sir William Dixson and Sir John Ferguson, Robertson's son-in-law and compiler of the 7-volume Bibliography of Australia.
Not wanting to open in opposition to his long-time employer, Spencer decided to open instead in Melbourne. He borrowed £1000 from collector H.L White, uncle of noted author Patrick White. The money was lent without surety, but Spencer was able to pay it back with interest in 3 years.
Spencer also had the support of Melbourne collector, F Hobill Cole and of George Robertson himself. Cole found him a shop at the top end of Bourke St, while a Robertson man designed and measured the shelvings. And so in 1922 founder Bert Spencer opened the Hill of Content. The shop was small (33’ x 19’) and the family lived behind the premises. At this time the Australian Parliament sat at the Victorian Parliament Building one block away in Spring St; meanwhile the State Parliament sat in Royal Exhibition Buildings, so prominent politicians frequented the shop as well.
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Hill of Content bookshop,
Bourke St Melbourne
Spencer’s mother was the inspiration for all his endeavours, introducing him to the wonders of reading, and she borrowed books from neighbours since there was no money to buy them. He went to Waverley Public School where he began his life-long love of poetry, with support from a sympathetic teacher. At 14 he was forced to leave school to work in a boot factory, cutting out boot uppers. Luckily he left after 8 months to become a messenger-boy with the book sellers and publishers, Angus & Robertson.
Spencer fell in love with a girl he planned to marry. They courted for several years but she died in her early 20s. In Jan 1909 Spencer married pianist Eileen Rebecca O'Connor at Woollahra Presbyterian Church.
For 22 years (1900-22) at Angus and Robertson's, Spencer learned the trade from its Australian masters, George Robertson and his employee Fred Wymark. He regularly delivered books to home of David S Mitchell, whose amazing collection formed the Mitchell Library.
Spencer became head of Angus and Robertson's Second-Hand Department, and the confidant of Sydney collectors like Sir William Dixson and Sir John Ferguson, Robertson's son-in-law and compiler of the 7-volume Bibliography of Australia.
Not wanting to open in opposition to his long-time employer, Spencer decided to open instead in Melbourne. He borrowed £1000 from collector H.L White, uncle of noted author Patrick White. The money was lent without surety, but Spencer was able to pay it back with interest in 3 years.
Melbourne was going through recession then, and gangsters were known to haunt the city’s narrow laneways. Spencer was told it was risky to open a bookshop in seedy areas, so he sought a positive name for his new shop. The name came to him during a walk in the Fitzroy Gardens when he was given a name for the new shop; the elm-trees and plane-trees said call it Hill of Content (1922).
Spencer also had the support of Melbourne collector, F Hobill Cole and of George Robertson himself. Cole found him a shop at the top end of Bourke St, while a Robertson man designed and measured the shelvings. And so in 1922 founder Bert Spencer opened the Hill of Content. The shop was small (33’ x 19’) and the family lived behind the premises. At this time the Australian Parliament sat at the Victorian Parliament Building one block away in Spring St; meanwhile the State Parliament sat in Royal Exhibition Buildings, so prominent politicians frequented the shop as well.
Every section of the bookshop is appealing to visitors
Fortunately Spencer handled the dispersal of the private libraries. The spectacular Robert Sticht collection arrived the year Spencer opened in Melbourne and helped ensure the shop’s success. Then two other two libraries, F Hobill Cole and H.L White, were added. Spencer also maintained contact with his old Sydney collector-friend Sir William Dixson, and attracted the custom of Melbourne's notables.
In 1927, with the lease expiring, Spencer asked the owners to demolish the old building and erect a new 3-storey one. Very quickly, the new shop emerged as a major outlet for second-hand and fine new books. Its customers included stars eg Dame Nellie Melba, Lionel Lindsay, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Governors, medicos and lawyers. The shop expanded to cover 2 floors of the building built by Spencer in 1928, with its staff eyeing off the third floor, currently occupied by Collins Booksellers head office! Thus this book shop became its founder's enduring legacy to Melbourne.
Spencer hoped his son would join the business but, after surviving 5 years of RAAF service, Greg Spencer was discharged and died in a car crash. This was tragic for Spencer and although he ran the business for c4 more years, he was grieving; in 1951 he sold Hill of Content to Angus & Robertson.
After he busied himself for months supervising the transfer of Dixson's collection to the NSW State Library. Spencer later issued catalogues and sold books privately from his Sandringham home and wrote his memoirs. His book was published as Hill of Content: Books, Art, Music, People by Angus and Robertson in 1959. It highlighted the Sydney and Melbourne literary worlds from the turn of the century to WW2’s end. Both chatty and nostalgic, his book revealed the pleasures and prejudices of their generation. Spencer also wrote good portraits of others eg David S Mitchell, George Robertson and especially Henry Lawson.
He was supported by help from friends and neighbours, but his last years were saddened by the deaths of his wife 1964 and daughter. He died in 1971.
Remember his shop had been purchased by Collins Booksellers and managed the company store from 1952. The owners of the Collins franchises in Sale and Bairnsdale organised franchisees to create a new company to buy the business and franchise rights. The Watts and Johnston families bought the Hill of Content, which now operates as an independent store under the Collins umbrella. Its manager have complete autonomy to buy, market and sell the books that best reflect the tastes of the shops’ dedicated clients. Hill of Content has enjoyed a period of steady growth over the last 20 years, more than doubling the turnover.
Readings’ staff encourage book-based conversation, making recommendations based on what a reader was seeking. The staff knew the stock and showed more interest via in-shop author events. Independent booksellers survived because of customer loyalty, but they knew their customer base and ordered strategically.
Shoppers loved the bookmark with the AH Spencer quote on one side and the signatures of famous visitors on the other: Sidney Nolan, Louis Armstrong, Fred Williams, Patrick White, Barry Humphries, E Annie Proulx, Robin Boyd etc.
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It was held by the same family for 73 years and now is the right time to sell. After over a century, the Hill of Content will likely be used for other retail or hospitality opportunities. It will be auctioned on 7th March, fetching ?$6 million but now Melbourne’s literary culture may fade. Melbourne, an international city of literature, has long been a city with many bookshops. On-line book sales are cheap and convenient, but a reader loses much of what a real bookshop used to offer. On-line depots are NOT cultural centres.
In 1927, with the lease expiring, Spencer asked the owners to demolish the old building and erect a new 3-storey one. Very quickly, the new shop emerged as a major outlet for second-hand and fine new books. Its customers included stars eg Dame Nellie Melba, Lionel Lindsay, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Governors, medicos and lawyers. The shop expanded to cover 2 floors of the building built by Spencer in 1928, with its staff eyeing off the third floor, currently occupied by Collins Booksellers head office! Thus this book shop became its founder's enduring legacy to Melbourne.
Spencer hoped his son would join the business but, after surviving 5 years of RAAF service, Greg Spencer was discharged and died in a car crash. This was tragic for Spencer and although he ran the business for c4 more years, he was grieving; in 1951 he sold Hill of Content to Angus & Robertson.
After he busied himself for months supervising the transfer of Dixson's collection to the NSW State Library. Spencer later issued catalogues and sold books privately from his Sandringham home and wrote his memoirs. His book was published as Hill of Content: Books, Art, Music, People by Angus and Robertson in 1959. It highlighted the Sydney and Melbourne literary worlds from the turn of the century to WW2’s end. Both chatty and nostalgic, his book revealed the pleasures and prejudices of their generation. Spencer also wrote good portraits of others eg David S Mitchell, George Robertson and especially Henry Lawson.
He was supported by help from friends and neighbours, but his last years were saddened by the deaths of his wife 1964 and daughter. He died in 1971.
Remember his shop had been purchased by Collins Booksellers and managed the company store from 1952. The owners of the Collins franchises in Sale and Bairnsdale organised franchisees to create a new company to buy the business and franchise rights. The Watts and Johnston families bought the Hill of Content, which now operates as an independent store under the Collins umbrella. Its manager have complete autonomy to buy, market and sell the books that best reflect the tastes of the shops’ dedicated clients. Hill of Content has enjoyed a period of steady growth over the last 20 years, more than doubling the turnover.
Readings’ staff encourage book-based conversation, making recommendations based on what a reader was seeking. The staff knew the stock and showed more interest via in-shop author events. Independent booksellers survived because of customer loyalty, but they knew their customer base and ordered strategically.
Shoppers loved the bookmark with the AH Spencer quote on one side and the signatures of famous visitors on the other: Sidney Nolan, Louis Armstrong, Fred Williams, Patrick White, Barry Humphries, E Annie Proulx, Robin Boyd etc.
Wendy Harmer spoke to her new memoir
"Lies My Mirror Told Me"
and she autographed her books.