Miranda Hill
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Miranda Hill (
Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...
1836–1910) was an English social reformer.


Biography

Hill was a daughter of James Hill (died 1872), a corn merchant, banker and follower of Robert Owen, and his third wife, Caroline Southwood Smith (1809–1902), a teacher and a daughter of Dr
Thomas Southwood Smith Thomas Southwood Smith (17881861) was an English physician and sanitary reformer. Early life Smith was born at Martock, Somerset, into a strict Baptist family, his parents being William Smith and Caroline Southwood. In 1802 he won a scholarshi ...
, the pioneer of sanitary reform. The family were brought up in reduced financial circumstances, after their father went bankrupt in 1840 (for a second time), necessitating them to leave their home Bank House, South Brink, Wisbech. To earn her living, Miranda became a governess, and later became a teacher as did some of her sisters and half-sisters. Her half-brother Arthur an engineer and coal merchant was four times mayor of
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
.


The Kyrle Society

Hill founded the influential Kyrle Society in 1875/1876, named after
John Kyrle John Kyrle (22 May 1637 – 7 November 1724), known as "the Man of Ross", was an English philanthropist, remembered for his time in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire. Education and legal background Born in the parish of Dymock, Gloucestershire, h ...
(1637–1724) for his creative philanthropy. The Society through its four committees provided art, music, books and open spaces to the working class poor, around the slogan "Bring Beauty Home to the Poor". This involved, at first, artistic decoration of hospitals, schools, literary institutes and working-class clubs. In 1876 her sister
Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a fa ...
became treasurer. There were numerous branches around the country, generally formed from around 1877 onwards, and one branch was supported by
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
. The bryologist
Frances Elizabeth Tripp Frances Elizabeth Tripp (1 August 1832 – 26 December 1890) was a British bryologist, botanical illustrator, philanthropist and writer. She is best known for her two volume work ''British Mosses, their homes, aspects, structures and uses' ...
was a donor to and supporter of the society. Another notable supporter was the
Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
architect Lady Mary Lovelace. The Society's Open Space Committee was influential in saving numerous stretches of heathland and woodland in London, that would otherwise have been built on, notably in 1890 the opening of
Vauxhall Park Vauxhall Park is a Green Flag Award-winning municipal park in Vauxhall, South London, run by Lambeth Council. It occupies an 8.5-acre site, and was created at a cost of around £45,000, following a public campaign led by the suffragist Millicent ...
. Many old burial grounds became public green spaces that are now highly prized leisure areas for Londoners. After 1885, a representative of the Society sat on the first Council of the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. There was also a horticultural wing aimed at children, and a branch called Invalid Children's Aid (ICA), which became independent in 1908. Membership of the Society often overlapped with that of the early
women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
. Miranda also worked in
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
as a member of the
Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...
there. She worked closely, from 1891, with her sister
Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a fa ...
on major housing reform projects in England.


Published works

* * * *


See also

*
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
*
Aesthetic Movement Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be prod ...
*
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
*
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
* Arts and Crafts Movement


References

*
Caroline Southwood Hill
at oxforddnb.com


Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Miranda 1836 births 1910 deaths English philanthropists English activists English women activists English women writers English humanitarians Housing reformers People from Wisbech 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English women 19th-century English people