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Octavia Hill’s life and work | History | National Trust

nationaltrust.org.uk · 29 words · saved by 1 readers

One of the three founders of the National Trust, Octavia Hill was a pioneering thinker and social reformer. She worked tirelessly to improve urban housing and to protect green spaces and the impact of her life and work is still being felt. Her belief in the importance of access to nature for human wellbeing and the need to stop the destruction of the natural landscape are even more relevant today. One of nine children, Octavia was born on 3 December 1838 at Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. Both of her parents were keen social reformers and followers of Robert Owen, a founder of utopian socialism. They opened the Wisbech Infant School as ‘a service to the wretched poor’ and encouraged its use as a ‘Hall for the People’ in the evenings, with lectures, dances and meetings of the Mental Improvement Society held there. Initially they lived in a comfortable townhouse, however all this changed when Octavia’s father was declared bankrupt after his investments failed. He fell into depression and subs

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