The final free talk in our lecture series is on Octavia Hill (1838-1912), and we celebrate the progress that she made in British social reform before her death in St Marylebone in 1912. From the age of fourteen, Hill dedicated her life to the welfare of working people. She was integral to the development of social housing, sheltering 45 destitute families in the local area in 1872, and was a founder of the Charity Organisation Society. The society’s home-visiting service forms the basis of modern social work. It was also her passion for preserving places of historic interest or natural beauty that left a lasting precedent, helping to protect Hampstead Heath and Parliament Hill Fields, and becoming one of three founders of the National Trust. She was also the first woman to be invited to sit on a royal commission.

This talk will be led by Dr Elizabeth Baigent, Reader in the History of Geography at the University of Oxford.  She became interested in Octavia Hill while she was Research Director of the New Dictionary of National Biography.  She organised the National Trust’s conference to mark the centenary of Hill’s death and co-edited the resultant book ‘Nobler imaginings and mightier struggles’: Octavia Hill, social activism and the remaking of British society (2017).  She is now editing the book marking the centenary of degrees for women at the University of Oxford.

You are welcome to St Marylebone Parish Church at 6:30pm on Wednesday 7th June 2023 to explore Octavia’s socio-political influence and her relevance today. Please book a free ticket here.