Occupation Author, Humanitarian | Name Miranda Hill | |
Born 1836 Wisbech, Cambridgeshire Died 1910, Marylebone, United Kingdom | ||
Good stories make good neighbours | Miranda Hill | Walrus Talks
Miranda Hill (Wisbech 1836–1910) was an English social reformer. She worked closely, from 1891, with her more famous sister Octavia Hill on major housing reform projects in England. She was the daughter of James Hill, corn merchant and banker, and Caroline Southwood Smith, the daughter of Dr Thomas Southwood Smith, the pioneer of sanitary reform. The sisters were brought up in reduced financial circumstances, and were never formally schooled. To earn her living, Miranda became a teacher at age 13.
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Miranda founded the influential Kyrle Society in 1875/1876, a representative of which later sat on the first Council of the National Trust. The Society provided art, 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 and working-class clubs. It was named after philanthropist John Kyrle (1637–1724). There were numerous branches around the country, generally formed from around 1877 onwards, and one branch was supported by William Morris. Another notable supporter was the Arts and crafts 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, and which are now highly prized leisure areas for Londoners. 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.
Miranda also worked in Marylebone as a member of the Board of Guardians there.