Born: 3 December 1838, United Kingdom
Died: 13 August 1912
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Octavia Hill was a notable English social reformer, focused on improving the lives of city dwellers, particularly in nineteenth-century London. Born into a family of radical thinkers, she experienced financial hardships due to her father’s business failures. Educated at home by her mother, she began working at 14 to help the working people.
Octavia Hill played a key role in advancing social housing, aided by her friendship with John Ruskin. She emphasized self-reliance and personal connections with tenants in her housing approach, differing from her criticism of bureaucratic municipal housing.
She also championed preserving open spaces for the less privileged. Her efforts saved London’s Hampstead Heath and Parliament Hill Fields. She co-founded the National Trust, preserving sites of historical and natural importance. As a founder of the Charity Organisation Society (now Family Action), she pioneered charitable grants and home-visiting services, shaping modern social work. She also served on the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws in 1905.
Octavia Hill’s legacy includes the National Trust’s significant holdings, housing projects aligned with her principles, training for housing managers, and the Octavia Hill Birthplace House in Wisbech.
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company: .
Octavia Hill, an English social reformer and author. At an early age she began her efforts to improve the homes of the London poor. In 1864 she was associated with John Ruskin who advanced the money for purchasing the houses and improving them or erecting new ones.
She taught multitudes to help themselves, impressing upon them ideas of cleanliness, order, and self respect. Her books include: Homes of the London Poor (1875) and Our Common Land (1877).