In 1878 the lease of the school was taken over by Henry Vaughan Ellis. Ellis, a Rugby old boy, sought to reform Hilton College around the English public school system. Ellis brought many of the Rugby traditions to Hilton; thus beginning an unofficial link between the two schools, perpetuated today in the Hilton crest and motto. In 1903, Ellis announced his intent to retire, but wished to ensure the survival of his school. It was suggested to him by Ernest Acutt, a founding pupil and Mayor of Durban, that the farm and school should be sold to a company formed by Old Hiltonians which became the Hilton College Ltd. The capital raised by the old boys was intended to be used to buy the school from Ellis and for the construction of new buildings.