Hill, Octavia (1838–1912)

English campaigner for housing reform and public open spaces. She co-founded the National Trust in 1894.

Hill was born at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire and educated privately. In 1856 she became secretary of the classes for women at the Working Men's College. Her first housing project was so successful in increasing the self-respect and improving the material welfare of her tenants that the Countess Ducie gave her charge of a property in Drury Lane, London. Eventually she was at the head of a staff of assistants responsible for collecting the rents of 6,000 dwellings and tenements in London. Hydon Heath and Hydon's Ball, a tract of wooded land near Godalming, was purchased after her death and dedicated to her memory. Her publications include Homes of the London Poor (1875) and Our Common Land (1878).