Hill

Hill, OCTAVIA, improver of working-men's houses, was the grand-daughter of Dr Southwood Smith, a well-known sanitary reformer, and was born about 1838. She laboured amongst the London poor under Frederick D. Maurice; and in 1864, supported by Mr Ruskin, she commenced her great work of improving the homes of working-men in the slums and dismal alleys of the metropolis. The plans she adopted were based upon the principle of teaching the people to help themselves, by inculcating in them proper notions of cleanliness, order, and self-respect. Her efforts have been crowned with singular success; the houses which have been improved yield a good percentage on the money spent in effecting the improvements; and hundreds of people have been helped to lead more comfortable and better lives. Miss Hill has written Homes of the London Poor (1875), Our Common Land and other Essays (1878), and papers in the magazines.