Queer Places:
190 Marylebone Rd, Marylebone, London NW1 5AR, UK
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.
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.
Miranda Hill died on May 31, 1910, at Marylebone Road, London, N.W.
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Hill