LAST YEARS OF LIFE
1902–1912
Successful as was the period of work mentioned in the last chapter, it
was soon followed by an event which produced a deep influence on the
remaining years of Octavia’s life. Her mother had throughout her life
been her most helpful guide and inspirer, and her death at the end of
1902 produced a blank which could not be filled. Yet, in spite of this
blow, the last period of Octavia’s life was marked by much vigorous
work, as will be seen by the quotations from her “Letters to her
Fellow Workers.” The Ecclesiastical Commissioners had steadily
increased her sphere of operations, and at the time of her death she
and her fellow workers were managing property for the Commissioners in
Southwark, Lambeth, Westminster, and Walworth.
But far more trying were the anxieties connected with the latest
acquisition of house property in the West end, since the houses in
this district had been used for evil purposes; and others near them
were still misused in the same way. This made it doubly difficult to
raise the standard of living among the people, and to protect the
respectable tenants from annoyance.
Yet even here the vigour and sympathy of her fellow workers gave her
much encouragement, especially such utterances as that of the
policeman mentioned in the letter dated November 28th, 1911.
[Sidenote: POOR LAW COMMISSION]
In the Open Space movement she was much cheered by the acquisition of
land at Gowbarrow overlooking Ullswater Lake; and she threw herself
energetically into the plan for purchasing additional land on
Mariners’ Hill, which had become peculiarly precious to her since the
erection of the seat in memory of her mother.
But all this progress, in what she considered the proper work of her
life, was interrupted, in 1907, by a duty which she was, at the time,
rather disposed to look upon as likely to be barren of results. This
was her appointment on the Royal Commission for enquiring into the
working of the Poor Law. Nevertheless it will be seen from her letters
that she heartily devoted herself to the rather exhausting labour of
the visits to Institutions in various parts of the country, as well as
the attendance at the sittings of the Commissioners. It should be
mentioned also that the burden of her labours had been much increased
by a recent carriage accident. The letter from Lord George Hamilton,
the chairman of the Commission, shows that some, at least, of her
colleagues found more value in her services than she was disposed to
attach to them; and from other quarters, also, we have heard similar
appreciation, from those who had opportunity of observing her work.
As so many words have been wasted on theories about her attitude
towards the decisions of the Commissioners, I wish to call special
attention to her letter to the Chairman, as showing the exact extent
of her difference from, and agreement with, the conclusions of her
colleagues.
Her steady dislike to undue Government interference with movements for
assisting the poor showed itself also in 1909, in that part of her
Letter to her Fellow Workers which refers to the attempts of the War
Office to exploit the Cadet Corps.
In the same year she was greatly encouraged by the progress of the
housing reform, carried on in Amsterdam and other towns by her Dutch
friends, a progress which gave her special satisfaction.
But all these hopes and efforts were marred in 1910 by the loss of her
sister Miranda, who from her earliest days had brought so bright and
helpful an element into Octavia’s life, and who since 1866 had been
her right hand in work, and her great support and comfort in times of
difficulty.
Though Octavia’s health was gradually giving way under various
strains, her Letter to her Fellow Workers in 1911 was one of the most
hopeful she had ever written; and there was no sign of decay in her
interest in the work. She mentions a scheme which was very near her
heart, for preserving land on the banks of the Wandle, as follows—“I
have long been anxious to impress on people the importance of
connecting larger existing Open Spaces by pleasant walking ways, away
from dust and noise: these walks need not necessarily be very broad,
but should be set with trees, have near them grass and flowers, if
only at the edges, and should be provided with plenty of seats. To
women and young children, who cannot get to far-off parks, these
pathways would be of inestimable value; and they would save strong
walkers, too, from having to tramp through ugly streets, or go by
train or tram before reaching the open common or park. Doubly useful
would these walking ways be if they could be along the banks of a
river.
“I thanked last year those of my sister Miranda’s friends and pupils
who had given in memory of her seven acres of Grange Fell in the
Cumberland she loved so well. This year I record with deepest thanks
that a part of this Wandle land has been given by a large group of her
former pupils. They have sent offerings from far and near.”
I may mention here how much she would have appreciated the generous
gift, since made by Mr. Richardson Evans, of land which forms part of
the banks which she desired to save.
The same note of cheerfulness which marked her last “Letter to her
Fellow Workers” appears in the letter written to her youngest sister
at the opening of 1912 given at the end of this chapter.
Re Saint Didier,
June 10th, 1902.
TO HER MOTHER.
... Then we came to the lonely Hospice in its waste of snow. It was not
nearly so impressive as the Great St. Bernard, when you and I went, and
of which I have so vivid a memory. I saw no monks, little of religious
life; one priest, whom they called the Rector, seemed the only sign of
the religious foundation. And yet in some ways it was most impressive to
realise that, for nearly a thousand years, travellers, poor and rich,
had been received there by men dedicating themselves to a lonely and
trying life. The peasants told us how many went over in winter, and how
many died from exposure. There was also in the Hospice a letter from a
man, who was lost in the snow in March, 1901. He described how a wind
came and swept away all traces of the way; how he plunged twice up to
his neck in snow, and struggled against despair, and tried to go, in
what proved the wrong direction, when a great black finger, but shining,
twice appeared to him, and pointed in another direction. He followed,
and came upon a refuge. The shelter saved his life; and the next day six
men from the Hospice found him and took him there. Later, on the edge of
the pass, we saw the Roman column to Jupiter, on which a little figure
of St. Bernard stands. It is quite black, and looked so small in the
waste of snow; but it stands grandly, and, with outstretched hand and
finger, points emphatically to the Hospice, a sort of type of the things
which out of weakness are made strong; and one wondered whether some
memory of the guiding hand had returned to the lost man in the snow.
[Sidenote: GREAT ST. BERNARD HOSPICE]
The old Rector told us he had been there forty years. He was very
apologetic about his dress; he told us the snow in winter came up to the
roof; but they always get light and air at one end, which faced the
south, and from which the wind always swept the snow. The guide told us
the Rector had been made Canon at Aosta, and, being over seventy, had
been urged to go down there to live; but he had refused, saying he knew
the pass, and would remain there. The only living things we saw were
snow buntings. A few yards from the Hospice we came in sight of Mont
Blanc, its highest peaks set with its magnificent “aiguilles,” standing
up in a vault of blue air. Mountain after mountain stood round it in
company, in a magnificent circle; and, seen over slopes of glittering
snow, looking back over the upland valley filled with snow, we saw the
little Hospice standing alone, standing out against the blue lower
slopes of the white crested chain of Savoy, the little figure of St.
Bernard, the only dark thing in the waste of white, throwing its
triumphant small arm out towards the Hospice, which he founded and must
have inspired for so many centuries. Down we came into the world of
rushing water, of green and of colour.
190 Marylebone Road,
September 15th, 1902.
TO REV. INGHAM BROOKE.
You will, of course, have been in correspondence with Captain Bennett
and others about the irreparable loss which the Cadets have sustained in
the death of Colonel Salmond. We had all been looking and hoping for his
return.
I feel sure that the movement has much real value, as distinct from
Church Lads’ Brigades, etc.; that it needs a real head with power. It
ought to have grown much during the past years; but, as far as I can
see, it has kept its head above water only, while the less thorough
works, like the Boys’ Brigades, have advertised themselves. Both works,
no doubt, are good; but ours appeals at once to a lower level, and a
more manly kind of lad; and, as a preparation for soldiers and sailors,
it is unrivalled.
[Sidenote: DEDICATION OF BRANDLEHOW]
Derwent Island,
October 16th, 1902.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
The scene[128] was really most beautiful and very funnily primitive. The
great tent was blown to atoms; and the little red daïs was out under the
free sky, with the great lake and splendid mountains, and golden bracken
slopes around us; and the nice north country people quite near, and so
happy and orderly. The Princess was most kind, and really deeply
interested in the National Trust work. I reminded her of the opening of
Wakefield Street, and our early days. My heart is very full of the
thought of all who helped to get this land. I wished you could have been
with us. It really was a wonderful thing to think it was done.
Hilston, Headington Road, Oxford,
November 26th, 1902.
TO HER MOTHER.
... We had a very wonderful visit to Edinburgh after I wrote to you. We
met, I should think, the most interesting Edinburgh people. Dr. and Mrs.
Kerr had about twelve guests each of the three nights we were there, and
were most kind in telling us, before dinner, who were coming. On Friday
morning we had a large meeting of workers, with representatives from
Perth, Dundee, and Glasgow, all working in houses, and we discussed
practical questions. At four o’clock we went to Mr. Haldane’s to tea,
and met a crowd of people, Provost, town councillors, owners, workmen,
donors. Then came the public meeting, when I read my paper. It was
crowded and most responsive, and the paper answered the purpose
admirably. The chairman, a clergyman, who they say is doing a great work
in Edinburgh, spoke of Maurice, Kingsley, and Ruskin as “the giants from
whom we have learnt, and drawn inspiration,” and referred to my having
known them, and the privilege of having heard of them from me, and
welcomed me for their sake as well as my own.
That night came a Presbyterian clergyman, who has 1,000 working men at
his Sunday services, and 800 women on Wednesdays. He hardly ever goes
out, but came to meet me. Such a fine fellow! Everyone was most kind,
and we had a wonderful departure next day. Thirty or forty of the
workers came to see us off, brought the most magnificent bouquet, and
large bunches of violets with such words of thanks. It was like a royal
departure.
January 25th, 1903.
TO MR. WM. BLYTH.
Your most kind letter telling me of your sympathy, and quoting my
mother’s own words about Death, and beyond Death, is among the first
which I answer. I have wanted to write and thank you so much for it.
And yet how very much we have to be thankful for! Such memories of a
noble and honoured life, prolonged among us in fulness of sympathy for
so many blessed years,[129] and now to pass before us into the new life,
full of faith and surrounded by all who loved her.
[Sidenote: HER MOTHER’S DEATH]
The loss to us is very great, but it is so because of the greatness of
the blessing we have had. We must try to live not unworthy of our
traditions, and to bear well the sorrow sent us to bear. The great
kindness of friends is at once a summons and a strength.
February 22nd, 1903.
TO MISS MARGARET SHAEN.
I know you would feel Mr. Litchfield’s[130] death. Those who are
associated with those we love, and who have gone before us, always catch
some of their light; and Mr. Litchfield’s true sympathy with all that
was good, and his faithful and conscientious help, always made him feel
“one of us,” as our tenants say, tho’ of late years I saw little of him.
My dear mother kept her full sympathy in all things to the last; her
marvellous vitality never flagged; we were all with her. She just lived
to see her eldest grandchild, Blanche, engaged. Life was full, bright,
and crowned with love and hope to the end. Now Elinor, too, our youngest
niece, is engaged; and it seems like a trumpet call to come back to
life, and even to their joy; and one feels one must not lose heart or
hope, tho’ all life seems so changed.
April 29th, 1903.
TO MR. WM. BLYTH.
Thank you for the words about dear Elinor. The wedding was very
beautiful, and I believe there is every hope of her having a very happy
future.
To us the memories of my dear mother were very present. I felt as if she
must know, and be among us; a sympathy so deep as hers, a love so great,
cannot be bound by earthly death; only the silence is a pain while it
lasts.
Larksfield,
May 17th, 1903.
TO MIRANDA.
We had a most interesting afternoon yesterday with Mr. Chubb, going both
to Mariners and Ide Hill. We all agreed in favour of the former; partly
because of the magnificent view, partly because it is now or never for
it. The Ide Hill bit, you remember, faces Toys Hill, and isn’t so pretty
as to view; it is more important as to access, and a small bit would
give _that_; also, a year or two hence, the land _may_ not be dearer.
Anyway, at this moment we can ask for precisely the parts we care for at
“Mariners,” just as we did at “Ide” long ago. It is all vacant; a little
later there might be impediments or curtailment. Mr. Chubb and Mr.
Fleming paced it, and I was cheered to see how much three acres would
take. Mr. Chubb is now to measure it precisely on map, submit it to us,
and then see owners with offer, and see how good an access or accesses
we can get.
Larksfield, Crockham Hill,
August 23rd, 1903.
OCTAVIA TO MIRANDA.
Miss Gladstone is here.... She is full of wit, animation, stories, and
appreciation of the beauty.
[Sidenote: WORK FROM ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS]
The following letter refers to the taking over the management of
property ere to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
1903.
LETTER TO FELLOW WORKERS.
It was a huge undertaking, and needed much care and labour to start it
well, and naturally we were all keen to help. It was a great day when we
took over the place. Our seconds in command took charge manfully for a
fortnight of all our old courts; and fourteen of us, including all my
own responsible workers, and one lady who had gained experience in
Edinburgh. We met on Monday, October 5th, to take over the estate, and
collect from 500 or 600 tenants wholly unknown to us. We organised it
all thoughtfully; we had fifteen collecting books, and all the tenants’
books prepared; had opened a bank account, had found a room as office,
and divided the area among our workers. Our first duty was to get the
tenants to recognise our authority and pay us. I think we were very
successful; we got every tenant on the estate to pay us without any
legal process, except one, who was a regular scamp. We collected some
£250, most of it in silver, and got it safely to the bank. Then came the
question of repairs; there were written in the first few weeks 1,000
orders for these, altho’, as the whole area is to be rebuilt, we were
only doing really urgent repairs and no substantial ones. All these had
to be overlooked and reported on and paid for. Next came pouring in the
claims for borough and water rates. We had ascertained the assessment of
every house, the facts as to whether landlord or tenant was responsible,
whether the rates were compounded for or not, what allowance was to be
claimed for empty rooms. There were two water companies supplying the
area, and we had to learn which supplied each house.
The whole place was to be rebuilt, and even the streets rearranged and
widened; and I had promised the Commissioners I would advise them as to
the future plans. These had to be prepared at the earliest date
possible; the more so as the sanitary authorities were pressing, and
sent 100 orders in the first few days we were there. It is needless to
say with what speed, capacity and zeal the representatives of the
Commissioners carried on their part of these preparations; and they
rapidly decided on the streets which should be first rebuilt, and what
should be erected there. But this only implied more to be done, for we
had to empty the streets swiftly, and that meant doing up all possible
empty houses in other streets and getting the tenants into them.
Fortunately, there were several houses empty, the falling in of the
lease having scared away tenants. The Commissioners had decided to close
all the public houses on the estate, and we let one to a girls’ club,
and had to put repairs in hand to fit it for its changed destination.
Meantime, my skilled workers had to be withdrawn, tho’ Miss Lumsden’s
staff was new to the work; and I do not know how the business could have
been done but for her immense power, devotion and zeal, and the extreme
kindness of friends in offering special help.
The matter now stands thus: We have got thro’ the first quarter; have
collected £2,672—mostly in silver. Plans have been prepared for
rebuilding and rearrangement of the whole estate, and these are now
before the Commissioners for consideration. They provide a site for
rebuilding the parish school; an area of about an acre as a public
recreation ground; they substitute four wide for three narrow streets,
and afford accommodation for 700 families in four-roomed and six-roomed
cottages, cottage flats, and flats of three and two-roomed tenements in
houses in no case higher than three storeys.
[Sidenote: MR. CHUBB’S WORK]
190, Marylebone Road,
October 19th, 1904.
TO A FRIEND OFFERING HELP.
Thank you for your able and most interesting letter _re_ the scheme for
the neighbourhood of the Wandle. It is the very thing one would desire
to have done. The best advice I can give is that you should approach the
able and helpful secretary of the Kent and Surrey Committee of the
C.P.S. at 25, Victoria Street, Westminster, and see if they can in any
way help. As a rule they work most in the country; but Mr. L. Chubb,
their Sec., has more knowledge of how to work such a scheme as you
sketch than anyone I know; and I hope he may at least see his way to
seeing and advising. I am writing to him and forwarding your letter.
I fancy he will agree with me that your best course would be to form a
strong local committee, to get some one or two people to select the
exact area as silently as possible, to approach the owners and get an
option of purchase, and _then only_ to make the scheme public and
approach the various bodies and individuals who should help.
I am a member of the Kent and Surrey Committee, and on that body might
be able to help; and I should always hear from Mr. Chubb of the progress
of the scheme, so as to help at any juncture if possible, tho’,
individually, I fear at this moment I cannot undertake anything. I have,
as you will see from the enclosed, in addition to my regular London
work, a large country one on hand.
1904.
LETTER TO FELLOW-WORKERS.
In one way, this Notting Hill area is the most satisfactory to me of any
we have. It is so steadily improving, and the people with it. It is
meeting so much the needs of those who find it hardest to get on. The
group of ladies who manage it are eminently fitted to help on any who
can be helped there, whether it be by introducing the young people to
better work, by recommending widows for charing, by giving the labourer
an odd job of rough work, by immediately calling attention to cases of
illness or extreme want, by bringing a little healthy amusement into
somewhat monotonous hard-working lives, and in many other ways. The work
is much more like that which I was able to do in earlier years than any
which is possible in most new buildings.
We have had a great alarm about the work in South London. When I wrote
to you last it was still doubtful whether the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners would decide to undertake the responsibility of
rebuilding, and retaining in their own hands, the whole of the area
which was to be devoted to dwellings for the working classes. It was
still undecided whether they would not lease a part to builders or
companies. They have resolved to retain the whole in their own hands,
and to manage it by their own agents, of whom Miss Lumsden is the first.
The advantages of this plan are obvious. The Commissioners will be
directly responsible for good arrangements and government, instead of
being powerless to interfere for eighty or ninety years; they will be
freer than any lessees can be to modify, should change be needed, owing
to development of science, or alteration of requirements as time goes
on; they can determine conditions of life in a large area occupied by
working people, which may have as deep an influence as the churches and
schools, which, up to now, they have felt it their duty to supply. All
this they have felt it possible to do, because they realise that there
is growing up a certain number of ladies capable of representing them,
and possessing special knowledge. So that in the years to come, as they
will have lawyers to do legal business, surveyors and architects to see
to the fabric of their houses, so they will have managers to supervise
in detail the comfort and health of their tenants, so far as these
depend on proper conditions in the houses in which they live; managers
who will be interested in the people, and will have time to see
thoroughly to the numerous details involved in management of such areas.
[Sidenote: LADIES HELPING OFFICIALS]
190, Marylebone Road,
April 12th, 1905.
About Tolstoi’s “Resurrection.”
TO MR. S. COCKERELL.
At last I have finished your book. Thank you very much for lending it to
me. Of course, one feels the nobility of the author’s aim, and some of
the chapters are interesting as opening a view into life so utterly
different from ours. A great advantage in a book I feel this to be. But,
take it as a whole, I can’t say I feel the book either refreshing or
helpful; and I am a little disappointed even with the art of it. There
is growth in one or two characters, but all the rest are like a series
of very minute photographs without clearness, or interest, or growth, no
connection with the rest of the book, and no beauty. Also the theories
seem to me not true nor practical. Wherefore I know I prove myself
unworthy and dense; but I cannot help it. The short stories are some of
them perfect, as works of art; and some have both meaning and beauty.
Anyway, thank you for lending them. It is interesting to realise what
men like Tolstoi are thinking, and to try to realise why many in England
look up to him.
Larksfield,
July 16th, 1905.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
I write to say how _very_ glad I shall be if you decide to go with us on
Wednesday.[131] Miss Yorke says we are to have a carriage reserved for
us, and to be driven to the cottages, of which there are 120! So, in
some ways, it won’t be so tiring as on an ordinary day, and we shall
certainly see and hear more. How nice it would be to have the day with
you!
I had a wonderful day yesterday. The L.C.C. opened the garden given by
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at Walworth. The whole place gay; a
platform at one end was enclosed, but in front of us was the whole space
crowded with people, the garden being open to all. In front and around
were all new houses, with large bow-windows overlooking the garden,
wider streets, the whole 22 acres either rebuilt or rebuilding.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were represented by Sir Lewis Dibdin
and Sir A. De Bock Porter. The former made a most satisfactory speech,
showing that he grasped the main points of the work. I went to dear Red
Cross to the Flower Show. There the personal work was more marked, and
the people had done much for themselves.
[Sidenote: POOR LAW COMMISSION]
Hotel Metropole, Leeds,
February 6th, 1907.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
How very sweet of you to write to me, and such an interesting letter! I
was indeed glad to receive it. The extracts about tree-planting are
delightful. Curiously enough, two of our Commissioners had been at the
Distress Committee here yesterday, and had heard of some afforestation
being done by the unemployed; the planting near a moorland reservoir
belonging to the Corporation. They got £1,000 from the Local Government
Board, and were prepared to employ fifty men fencing and planting, but
can’t get more than thirty-three!...
I am looking forward with joy to returning home to-morrow. I believe I
shall spend the day at Bradford, and return straight from there. To-day
we have been all day at Hull. To give my mind a little change I read
Emerson in the train. It was very refreshing. I wonder if Edmund will
have seen Bryce. What a wonderful new work his will be!
Edinburgh,
June 13th, 1907.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
I could not finish this yesterday, and now complete it while the
evidence goes on. We had a long day yesterday. We saw a large orphan
school—1,300 children in separate houses on a large estate, with river
running thro’ it, church, and school. It was built by a poor lad, very
forlorn in Glasgow, who resolved to help children if he could. He is
dead; but his daughter showed us over. It is one of those institutions
where they make a point of having no capital invested, or funded income;
they say all depends on prayer. There is a sanatorium for phthisis, and
a farm for sane epileptics close by. We hear that trade in Paisley is
very brisk, and the demand for girls in the factories is practically
unlimited; the wages often £1 or £2 a week, and some manufacturers have
a very high standard of duty. The Coatses have built beautiful
lodging-houses and clubs for the girls who work there. They would teach
girls work, which is readily learnt. We went over a large poor-house and
lunatic asylum, and attended a parish relief committee. I am longing to
be home.
September, 1907.
TO MIRANDA.
I had an interesting interview with Mr. Mackay on Saturday about giving
evidence before Poor Law Royal Commission. It seems he is a fellow
worker of Mr. Crowder’s, hence his wisdom. I liked him much. By the way,
at Islington there was in the chair a Mr. Robarts, a member of the
L.C.C., an ally of Mr. Murphy’s there, and a large builder. He told us
such interesting things about the Labour Leaders there. Also he put very
clearly the present difficulty of employing old or slightly disqualified
men at any wages, owing to the Trade Union rules now; but he added that
the working men were aware of the difficulty, and that the Amalgamated
Engineers were considering the possibility of dividing the men
themselves into 1st, 2nd, 3rd class, and fixing different rates. I had a
long interview with Mr. Hoole on Saturday to look over the Oxford plans.
Also the University itself wants to build cottages on a farm of theirs,
and wants me to send his address.
Red Cross Hall,
December 14th.
TO MIRANDA.
Burns is quite keen about the Wandle scheme; is sanctioning unemployed
money for clearing the area on its banks, used for dust. It will then be
made into a garden. He will not, after seeing our photographs, have the
river straightened.
[Sidenote: POOR LAW COMMISSION]
1907.
LETTER TO MY FELLOW WORKERS.
The Poor Law Commission has necessarily occupied much of my time, and
bids fair to continue to do so. It is naturally very interesting. We
have visited Lancashire, Yorkshire, the Midlands, South Wales, the
Eastern Counties, the Western Counties, and Scotland. My colleagues went
also to the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury and to Northumberland; but I
could not go. Next year we purpose visiting Ireland. The time has not
arrived for making any remarks on the vast field which has opened before
us; it is deeply interesting, partly by the great and important
questions it suggests, partly by the large number of individuals of
whose life-work we get some idea. These latter have often and often
recalled to me Miss Alexander’s beautiful legend of the Hidden Servants;
and, as I have got a glimpse of the righteous manufacturer, the devoted
leader of the Friendly Society, the generous founder of some
out-of-sight charity, the faithful nurse, the energetic matron or
teacher, the self-sacrificing wise guardian, the humble and gentle
pauper, I have heard echo in my ear the thankful words: “How many Thy
hidden servants are.”
Of course there is the other side; and the problem appears to me the
more puzzling, the more the solution of it depends, not on machinery
which Commissions may recommend and Parliaments set up, but on the
number of faithful men and women whom England can secure and inspire as
faithful servants in their manifold duties.
We have placed on one such bit of land, given to the National Trust in
memory of my mother, a stone seat designed by Mr. Hoole. Near it her
eldest great grandchild has planted an oak; we hope he will remember it
in years to come, and connect the future with the past, where it had its
root. The seat bears words from Lowell’s Commemoration Ode, from the
passage:—
“Blow, trumpets, all your exultations blow,
For never shall their aureoled presence lack;
I see them muster in a gleaming row,
With ever-youthful brows that nobler show.
We find in our dull road their shining track
In every nobler mood,
We feel the orient of their spirit glow,
Part of our life’s unalterable good
Of all our saintlier aspiration.
They come transfigured back,
Secure from change in their high-hearted ways,
Beautiful evermore, and with the rays
Of morn on their white shields of expectation.”
In memory has it been given, but in glad memory, and with such thoughts
as should be present to him who shall there watch the spring growth, and
look out on the beauty of the England he loves, and which is the
inheritance of her sons.
[Sidenote: MARINERS’ HILL]
190 Marylebone Road, N.W.
April 14th, 1908.
TO A FRIEND OFFERING HELP.
I am glad your houses in South London are doing well. We are having a
depressing time as to workmen’s houses in London; one wonders how things
will go in the future. I do hope, better.
You ask about our longed-for bit of ground. It is on the range of hills
on which Sevenoaks is, but further west; the hills are a range between
the North Downs and the Ashdown Forest range. The exact hill is called
Mariners’ Hill, and is about equidistant from Eden Bridge, Oxted and
Westerham. I was there on Sunday, and the view was quite magnificent.
The ground was a mass of primroses in full flower; and all the wild
hyacinth leaves were coming up. There is a great deal of brushwood,
through which we shall cut paths; but there are a few good oak trees;
and, if all be well, I shall plant some more, and some beeches, where
they will not hide the view; and the upland meadow we shall keep quite
clear.
We still want £336 to complete the purchase; but we have achieved
getting the land into friendly hands; so that we secure time to try to
raise the balance. This is a great mercy, especially as I am so very
busy that it is difficult to take steps for making the need more known.
Till we got the land into safe hands, I dared not mention where it was,
lest the vendors should raise the price.
190 Marylebone Road,
November, 1908.
TO LORD GEORGE HAMILTON.
I feel it so important that as many of us as possible should be able to
sign the report without reservations, that I trouble you with a letter.
I have always desired an “ad hoc” body; but I am too ignorant about
these statutory committees, absolutely to object to them. But it seems
to me that, as at present drafted, the report provides no safeguards
against two dangers, namely, the overtaxing of the strength of the
county councillors; and the possibility of the nominations (on the Minor
authority) being in untrustworthy hands.
If the scheme of nomination be much more carefully thought out, and
provided for, it would meet my great difficulty about the authority. Is
this possible?
I hear all round of the impossibility of County Councillors doing the
work entrusted to them; of the duties devolving necessarily on
officials; and of their being put on committees, other than those for
which they have aptitude and experience.
The _Minor_ Committees are those that really do the work, face to face
with the poor; and I see no provision that they shall be composed of the
right people.
I have not seen what Dr. Downes is drafting, yet; and I do not know how
far I may agree with it, but I would willingly come into line with you
all if I could; and, so far as the Authority is concerned, this of the
nomination is my difficulty.
I can’t see my way about the “Abnormal” scheme of National Work; nor to
accept what seems to me an extension of out-relief. I am ready not to
vote for its abolition. I am glad that the out-relief given should be
far more wisely supervised; that we should have country workhouses with
space for real work (called Labour Colonies if the world likes); but,
when it comes to money grants for the able-bodied men outside any
institution, and without disfranchisement, because they are thought
respectable, we seem to be extending out-relief so as to trench on what
can only be done by Charity. But these are points which will come up
soon on Part VI.
The other point arises only on Part IX.; and something will, I conclude,
go to the Government before it is before us; and I feel, with Dr.
Downes, that any dissent, that any of us are compelled to express, must
be expressed by them.
[Sidenote: POOR LAW COMMISSION]
This letter, written after Octavia’s death to her sister by the
Chairman of the Poor Law Commission, is inserted here as bearing on
that Commission.
1912.
TO MISS F. HILL FROM LORD GEORGE HAMILTON.
.... I was associated with Miss Octavia Hill for five years on the Poor
Law Commission; and, during that time, I acquired for her a feeling of
deep reverence and regard. She was a great woman, and in no way did she
more show her greatness than in her absolute disregard of the
frivolities and fancies of the moment. The work she has done, and the
school she has founded, will live and perpetuate her memory.
To me she was a pillar of strength, and, at critical moments of
discussion and controversy, she would intervene, and, with a few words
of undeniable common sense and insight, solve the problem we were
considering.
May 29th, 1909.
TO A FRIEND.
Your sweet letter with all its loving thought, followed me to Italy;
and, now that we have just returned, I want to write to you and thank
you. We have had a wonderful time on Lakes Garda and Iseo and in Tyrol,
and in Switzerland. Miranda and I have returned much refreshed, ready
for a spell of work.
I am sure that you do all that is possible, with your health; and
_being_ is so much more important than _doing_.
About Notting Hill I am thankful to say that there is much religious and
temperance work going on among the people; and we are in closest touch
with those who are doing it, clergy, parish workers, heroic workers in
clubs. I trust that it may be telling on individuals; but those who are
doing it are at least as convinced as we are, that, in ordering the
homes, in employing and teaching the workers, in purifying the houses,
we have a special work to do, which is essential in supplementing the
spiritual teaching.
The Vicar is a splendid worker. Miranda’s goddaughter Miss
Macdonell[132] is wonderful in her work among the girls—but the power,
which we have, of preventing certain gross evils is, they feel, the
greatest help, in the rescue of these feeble folk.
September ?, 1909.
TO MIRANDA.
Dear Mr. Booth has resigned his place on the Commission. There was great
sympathy and warmth of feeling shown, and we all signed a letter to
him.... It was a little breezy; but L. did not make much way. Mr. Crooks
was interesting. It was a very long day. I thought I must stay till Mr.
Brookbank had finished. I told the Com. I did not think I could manage
Ireland. I believe I ought to take some Labour Colony visiting. It would
be far easier, and much more to the point.
[Sidenote: WAR OFFICE AND CADET CORPS]
1909.
LETTER TO MY FELLOW-WORKERS.
We are, many of us, much exercised now as to the future of the Cadet
Corps. The First London Battalion, founded in 1887, has always been
linked closely with our work in Southwark, two companies drilling in the
Hall, and the headquarters of the battalion being quite near. The
health, the physique, and the moral training of our lads have owed much
to it. More than eight thousand boys have passed through its ranks; and
many have done honourable service for their country both by sea and
land. The day has now come when the War Office are about to link on the
Cadets to the general organisation for military service. They have
issued suggested regulations, which appear to me, and to all the devoted
group of gentlemen who have acted as officers to these lads for now so
many years, to be full of peril to the whole movement.
It is proposed to make the severance of the Cadet from his officers,
comrades, and club, compulsory at the age of seventeen. This regulation
is not proposed for higher-class boys; and it would seem hard indeed to
make it for such lads as ours. We have always felt the club life, the
camping out together and with their officers, part of the most valuable
influences possible. If it is to cease at seventeen, when the Cadet is
not a man, when he is open to all the temptations of the streets, and to
the undisciplined life there, most of the good gained from fourteen to
seventeen would be lost. Moreover, no workman’s club is open to him till
he is eighteen.
Setting aside the moral and physical training, it appears to us a great
mistake from the point of view of those who desire to link such lads on
to the organisation for the defence of our country. It is true that, if
they desire to do so, they can join the Territorials. But these boys are
not in a strong position to arrange with their employers to be given
time; nor can they afford to sacrifice time or wages. Some do and would
join the Territorials at seventeen; and we should not propose their
being barred from doing so; but we think their severance from the Cadet
Corps at seventeen should be optional. If they are inclined for a
military career, they are far more likely to enlist in the regular army,
where they would be provided for. This they cannot do till they are
eighteen. For the sake of that unique and wonderful reforming power,
which we have found the Cadet Corps to be for our London lads, we very
earnestly deprecate the adoption by the War Office of the suggested rule
of breaking its influence off at the early age of seventeen.
June 7th, 1910.
OCTAVIA TO MISS ALICE COCKERILL.
It is a lovely thought of yours to _give_[133] something, and like the
sort of inspiration which she gave. I am glad you were at the service.
It was indeed a gathering of those who loved her.
The blank here is terrible, but I have so many blessings; and among the
greatest is the memory of life with her.
190 Marylebone Road,
June 18th, 1910.
ON THE DEATH OF MISS WALLICK AND OF MIRANDA.
DEAR MRS. BROOKE,
In very deed there is a fellowship of suffering. Our modern way of
looking upon suffering as a thing which, by good arrangements, we can
get rid of, misses often that solemn sense of its holiness, which those,
who live in constant memory of our Lord’s suffering, enter into.
[Sidenote: MIRANDA’S DEATH]
Yours was a far harder loss,—in seeing the young right spirit pass from
among you, with all the promise of life before her.
My sister went, though full of eager and loving sympathy, and rich in
openings for useful work, yet after a long and very full and happy life;
and she lay, surrounded by flowers, with the love and devotion of the
many, high and low, young and old, who had loved her. She had no pain;
and she lived all her life so near to God, so vividly conscious of all
the spiritual world, that it hardly seemed a step to the heavenly one.
And yet the great void remains. I know that it is all right, and that my
sorrow is as nothing to that of many; there is no jar to forget, no
memories but of blessing and peace; but yet the loss is very great. I
had lived on her love for seventy years, and had had the blessing of it
daily; and the loss of its daily influence is very great.
Larksfield,
August 28th, 1910.
OCTAVIA TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
We saw Elinor and Carrington[134] and the children yesterday; all well.
Baby Anna was asleep on the lawn. We had a most interesting morning at
Mariner’s Hill. Capell met us, and we arranged about various short
dwarfstone walls, curved, and with ivy in the interstices, here and
there, to keep up the bank near the lane and preserve trees thereon.
Also for stumps lying about to be arranged as seats. It was so nice to
see his interest in the place and joy in the beauty. We did some cutting
to open out view from Mama’s seat. In the afternoon we drove to Toy’s
Hill, and walked to Ide Hill to inspect possible future purchase.[135]
It was so lovely; the path by the stream promises well, and on the upper
field the heather has really taken hold, and was in flower; and the
trees we planted begin to be a feature. The stony field is now covered
with vegetation.
We hope to start on Thursday and visit Cheddar.
On the Mendip Hills above Cheddar,
September 4th, 1910.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
Below lies a wide stretch of country; away to the right are Clevedon and
the Severn; in front, the grand-looking group of the Quantocks; and to
our left, Glastonbury Tor and Wells. We walked up the gorge where are
the Cheddar cliffs, and rejoiced in seeing what the National Trust has
done in stopping the quarrying.
The cliffs are really grand. From the top of the ravine we came up thro’
a wood and out on to this delicious ground, where we are spending the
day....
Mrs. Lowe has left the National Trust £200! They are nearing the goal
about Borrowdale Fell!
Dunster,
September 14th, 1910.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
We are having very beautiful walks. We drove to Minehead and then walked
along a wonderful cliff with splendid views. When the road came to an
end, we passed a little footpath thro’ fern and heather and dwarf
gorse.... At last we came to a rounded hill, which formed the end of the
high ground; and, far below us, we saw Porlock. We went quite down the
hillside by a lovely path cut on the slope by Sir Thos. Acland, who also
has made innumerable lovely paths all thro’ his woods, all open to the
public. We took a carriage from the little village of Bossington, and
the driver said: “If ever anything good is done, you always find the
Aclands are at the bottom of it.” This man had been five years up in
London as a grocer’s assistant; but finding his father overdone with his
farm, came back to help him, and says he and his brothers are making a
thorough success of it.
[Sidenote: THE “NATIONAL TRUST”]
July 25, 1911.
Speaking of the National Trust she says:
We are a body with many members, and, besides ourselves, there are the
various local correspondents of all sorts. We have had no friction, and
this has been largely due to the tact and judgment of our Secretary. We
must try to secure this again, but the sphere of work is much larger
than when Mr. Bond came.
Bettws-y-Coed,
February 5th, 1911.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
We think of leaving here on Thursday and spending a night at Barmouth. I
want to see the earliest possession of the National Trust, and perhaps
the donor, Ruskin’s friend.
Bettws-y-Coed,
February 28th, 1911.
TO MRS. EDMUND MAURICE.
I heard from Mr. Bond[136] that a member of the Trust wished to give One
Tree Hill, and now he writes that he has leave to tell me that it is
Gertrude and Dr. Hurry; and that it is to be in memory of Arthur. I know
you will be very glad. How glad Arthur would be that his children showed
a large generosity for a public object.
November 25th, 1911.
On Wednesday there will be a gathering of the family at the opening of
the bath at Reading, given by his children and grandchildren in memory
of dear Arthur.[137]
November 28th, 1911.
TO MISS LOUISA MARSHALL.
I cannot tell you what a relief your gift is to me. It enables me to
purchase all the houses now purchasable there.... I think that, with all
our misfortunes there, much good is being done. A lady, who works among
the poor near, tells that, the other night, she saw a woman lying on the
pavement and went up to see if she could help. A young Irish policeman
was there, and helped most beautifully to get the poor woman to the
hospital. She was ill, but was known to be one of the worst characters.
The policeman opened out about his awe at the dreadful character of the
district; then he went on “But do you know, there are some ladies who
come down here? I have not an idea who they are; and I don’t know their
names; but they are Christians. They get possession of the houses, and
they won’t let any of this wrong go on there; not, if they know it. And
there isn’t anything to be made out of it.” This last sentence even
pleased me; for I have been rather unhappy, because, lately, it has been
so difficult to make things pay as they always used to do; and herein
one realised how the empty rooms (empty because the tidy people dread
the wickedness) had shown some men that a sacrifice was made by the
owners, rather than they would tolerate wrong doing where they had power
to keep order.
[Sidenote: CHANGES IN FRESHWATER PLACE]
January 2nd, 1912.
(About the proposed sale of Freshwater Place.)
TO MISS LILY SHAEN.
Well, then comes the question, how far is what we planned and your
Father made possible, still wanted? And how far can you and I secure its
being carried on? If not to be carried on, what should take its place?
These three questions must be faced.
The first is to me the most difficult to answer. I have been so long out
of touch with the work there. Are the houses, which are thoroughly
healthy and so cheap, still prized by the people? or are the showier and
more elaborately fitted houses attracting tenants? The letting would
show this.... Supposing these houses, and the bright little playground
still appreciated, I do not think you would find it at all difficult to
get a trained lady to take the management.... Numbers of ladies are
learning managing now; and I, or those who hereafter may represent me,
would know such. And tho’ I do not feel the need of houses in London
anything comparable to what it was in old days (indeed, in many
districts there are quantities of unlet rooms), the need of wise
management is as great, or greater than ever; and, personally, I should
feel it a _great_responsibility to give up power of controlling the
management of any houses, for which I had been responsible. So that, if
the houses still let, I do think it would be very sad to let them go;
for, tho’ I quite see that you can’t do the thing, I feel sure you could
get it done.
Now as to No. 3. Suppose you decide to sell and give up the continuing
thro’ others of the old work, would you look out for something for which
you would care, to which this land could be devoted? Its possession in a
densely covered area is a power. Think over it well, will you?
April 12th, 1912.
OCTAVIA TO MISS ALICE COCKERILL.
Will you give my sincere thanks to Mrs. ——,[138] and tell her I am sure
that there is a blessing on such gifts. I do rejoice when people’s
hearts are set on giving, and what a joy it is to them; it seems to make
their lives so happy and so full. Gifts which are a sacrifice to the
giver impress and inspire others, and I am glad to report them to those
engaged in this work.
190 Marylebone Road,
January 2nd, 1912.
MY VERY DEAREST FLORENCE,
Lily Shaen writes to ask me about a possible sale of Freshwater Place,
and the house in Marylebone Road.
I am going to see Capell on Saturday. I have a kind of idea that he may
be able to help about access to Ide Hill from the Toys Hill side.
[Sidenote: CHEERY VIEW OF HER WORK]
We have gone on with Ruskin’s Life; it is very interesting; but the
writer esteems his political economy higher than I should do, in
comparison with his art work.
The New Year opens for me in many ways very happily. It is wonderful to
think that I have been able to secure the purchase of the seventeen
houses at Notting Hill, all we feared to lose; and even one seemed
impossible at one time.
Then the Wandle scheme promises well. I have a letter from Miss Tupper,
which may lead to the preservation of an important view from Mariners’
Hill, which is in danger. I think my new workers promise well; and
certainly the old ones are growing in power. I have various schemes for
the year which is beginning, and hope to carry them through. I have just
come in from Redvers Street, the place in Hoxton which we took over for
the Montefiores. It is a joy to note the wonderful progress there. Miss
Christian[139] has just been here. She gets into such real touch with
all whom she sees. And all her gifts are so full of sympathy with the
recipient. To-morrow is Cosette’s[140] wedding; it is to be very quiet.
Your loving sister,
OCTAVIA.
CONCLUSION
For more than a year before her death, Octavia had suffered from
breathlessness, and at Easter of 1912, she became aware that her
illness was serious. She at once began to plan the devolution of her
work. She wrote to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and to five other
owners of house property, to ask if they would appoint certain of her
trained workers to take over the direct management of the houses. And
she was much gratified that all these owners were ready to fall in
with her suggestions; and that her lady workers were willing to
undertake the responsibility of management and direction.
She decided to bequeath her own freehold property to her married
nieces, the three daughters of Mrs. Charles Lewes, in the belief that
they would care for the work, and continue the good management which
would ensure the welfare of the tenants. Her nieces had been
associated with her in many ways from their early girlhood, and their
love and reverence for her made it likely that they would respond to
this trust.
These arrangements entailed many letters and interviews, the looking
over documents and accounts (she had no fewer than nine banking
accounts for which she was personally responsible); and all this was a
most arduous task in her weak state of health.
In May she went with Miss Yorke to Larksfield to try what rest and
fresh air would do for her. She greatly enjoyed the beauty of the
spring, and sat in an easy chair on the lawn for hours delighting in
the birds and flowers, and specially in the scarlet poppies and golden
broom seen against the blue distance.
However, she was fast losing strength, and when she returned to
Marylebone Rd., on June 3rd, she never left the house again; but her
energy never flagged. Up to within three days of her death she
continued to see her friends and fellow workers, using to the utmost
her failing strength, and endeavouring to arrange for the efficient
carrying on of the many works in which she took such a keen interest.
She was much cheered by the money sent to secure the purchase of
Mariners’ Hill, and she watched eagerly for letters or news of
donations.
[Sidenote: FINAL ARRANGEMENTS]
Miss Rosamond Davenport Hill had bequeathed £500 to her sister, Miss
Florence Davenport Hill, on the understanding that the latter should
leave it to Octavia. When, however, Miss F. D. Hill heard how very ill
Octavia was, she generously sent a cheque, which came the very day
before Octavia died. This £500 was more than enough to secure the
purchase of Mariners’ Hill, and Octavia’s delight and thankfulness
were great. It was a specially precious gift, as coming from such an
old and dear friend. Octavia was anxious that her illness should not
attract public attention; but, as it became known, flowers and loving
messages came pouring in, which touched her deeply. She longed to see
her relations and friends, and was delighted to welcome all, as far as
her failing strength would allow. One of her nieces, after visiting
her, wrote, “It was like Heaven, to be with her”; and others felt the
same. She seemed to glow with faith and unselfish love, and she had a
sweet smile for anyone who rendered the least service.
All through her illness she was surrounded by love. Miss Sim, who for
many years had formed part of her household, was unfailing in her
watchful care. Her sisters were constantly with her, and Miss Yorke
was devoted to her day and night. She was most tenderly and carefully
advised by Dr. Turnbull, who had previously attended her sister,
Miranda.
When Octavia realised that she could not recover she said, speaking of
her work, “I might have given it a few more touches, but I think it is
nearly all planned now, very well.” It was a great comfort to her to
know that Miss Yorke, who had lived and worked with her for thirty
years, would stay on in the dear home in Marylebone Road, and form a
centre for fellow-workers, and old friends; and, above all, that she
would take the responsibility of such a large amount of the work.
Octavia was also very happy at the arrangements made for the other
house property; for she knew that each group of ladies would gather
others round them. She felt that she was handing on the torch to those
who were animated by the right spirit, and in speaking of this future
for her work she said, “When I think of all this, it does not seem
like death, but a new life.”
On the evening of August 12th, she gathered her household round her to
say good-bye, and on the following night passed peacefully away.
She was laid by her sister, Miranda, in the quiet little churchyard at
Crockham Hill; and, although no formal invitations to the funeral had
been sent, friends and relations gathered from far and near, even one
of her Dutch friends coming from Amsterdam for the occasion; and many
representatives of public bodies with which she had been connected
were present. Among the many lovely wreaths sent, was one from H.R.H.
Princess Louise, bearing the following inscription:—
“In deepest admiration and esteem for one who devoted her whole life and
energy to the advancement and welfare of her fellow-countrymen.”
Sir Robert Hunter had been deputed to represent the Princess as he was
Chairman of the “National Trust for preserving places of beauty,” of
which H.R.H. was President.
Suggestions had been made that Octavia should be buried in Westminster
Abbey, but her relations were obliged to decline this honour, as her
express directions had been that she should be buried at Crockham
Hill.
The desire for a more public recognition, however, was gratified by a
memorial service which was held in Southwark Cathedral, in the centre
of a district where so much of her later work had been done. This was
largely attended, and a beautifully appreciative sermon was preached
by Canon Rawnsley.
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF HER PURPOSES]
Many tributes were paid to her memory in newspapers both English and
foreign; but perhaps the best summary of her life’s work might be
expressed in the words which she herself used in returning thanks for
the portrait presented to her by her friends in 1898. “When I am gone,
I hope my friends will not try to carry out any special system, or to
follow blindly in the track which I have trodden. New circumstances
require various efforts; and it is the spirit, not the dead form, that
should be perpetuated. When the time comes that we slip from our
places, and they are called to the front as leaders, what should they
inherit from us? Not a system, not an association, not dead formulas.
We shall leave them a few houses, purified and improved, a few new and
better ones built, a certain record of thoughtful and loving
management, a few open spaces, some of which will be more beautiful
than they would have been; but what we care most to leave them is not
any tangible thing, however great, not any memory, however good, but
the quick eye to see, the true soul to measure, the large hope to
grasp the mighty issues of the new and better days to come—greater
ideals greater hope, and patience to realise both.”
INDEX
Aberdare, Lord, 446, 526
Ad hoc election, 568
Alford, B. H., 468, 500, 528
Alfreston, 538
Amsterdam, 549, 582
Antiquaries (Society of), 215, 216, 243
Architecture, 99–100
Arnold, Matthew, 244, 445
Art, 13, 15, 21, 26, 30–1, 34, 37, 40, 66–7, 73, 99–100, 102–6, 145–6,
159–60, 165, 196, 203, 204, 215, 222, 355, 389, 520
Arthur (King), 158, 168
Artizans’ Dwellings Bill, 264, 321–4, 337, 348, 438
Assisi, 364–7, 463
Association (Hall of), 24
(Tailors’), 23
Athens, 401–17, 419
Ayres, Alice, 506
Baptism, 284, 343–6
Barter (Miss), 467
letter to, 451
Barmouth, 533
Barnett, Canon, 258, 272, 281, 290, 297, 303, 305, 347, 369, 388, 417,
419, 492
letter to, 328–9.
See Preface
Barrington, Russell, 299
Mrs., 506
Baumgartner, Miss, 156, 162, 164
letters to, 166, 167, 169, 172, 173, 174, 175, 229–230, 248
B—— Court, 265, 268, 286, 310, 311, 320, 322, 326, 337, 339, 346, 350,
351, 352, 353, 367, 390–392, 393–4, 399, 413, 466, 470
Beethoven, 20
Ben Rhydding, 189, 269
Benson, Archbishop, 484, 498
Berlin, 441, 538
Bethnal Green, 449, 511–12
Bible, 20, 33, 64, 277, 409–410
Class, 32, 115
Bible Women, 171
Birthday, 62, 104, 169
Blind, concerts for, 223
Blyth, Wm., 393
letters to, 439, 554, 555
Mrs., 536
Boarding out, 324, 352
Bodichon, Madame, 182–3
Bond, Ed., 261, 297, 315, 327, 331, 338
Nigel, 575, 576
Booth, Chas., 515, 570
General, 505
Bosanquet (C. P. B.), 259, 260, 287, 311, 323
Botany, 80
Brandlehow. See Derwent Water
Brooke, Rev. Ingham, 491, 492
letters to, 513–14, 552
Mrs., letters to, 572
Brougham Hall, 196
Browning, Mrs., 97, 108–9, 146–7, 167, 179, 446
Robert, 7, 108–9, 240, 245, 246, 272–3, 288, 446, 500
Bryce, J., 465, 540
Bunhill Fields, 316, 338, 346, 350
Bunney, Mr., 175
Burglar, 16
Burne-Jones, E., 202, 522
Burnham Beeches, 396
Burns, John, 508, 565
Buttercups, 32, 333
Cadet Corps, 491, 518, 549, 552–3, 571–2
Carlyle, Thos., 144, 261, 312–13.
See Cromwell
Carpenter, Rev. E., 314, 322
Charity Organisation Society, 257–60, 272, 287, 304, 306, 323, 328–9,
343, 348, 358, 399, 465, 466, 486, 505, 516
Chartres, 139
Chase, Ellen, 441, 508, 511, 513
letters from, 458, 527, 540
letters to, 478, 483–4, 486
Children’s Consciences, 49–51
Parties, 69, 244–5, 250–2, 535
Christian, Ewan, 488
Miss, 579
Christian Socialists, 14, 15, 22, 23, 330–1
Christmas, 68–72, 172, 194, 462, 519
Chubb, Lawrence, 533, 538, 559
Church, 28, 33, 155, 556
Claude, 124
Clergy (relations with), 258, 268, 273, 399
Clifford, Ed., 397–8
letter from, 357
Coal pit, 198
Cockerell, Mr., 189, 318, 394
letter from, 269
letters to, 265, 283, 295, 299, 301, 302, 337–8, 349, 350, 351
Olive, letters to, 343–6, 499, 510, 525, 544
Sydney, letters to, 473, 479, 480, 481, 495–7, 499–500, 508–10,
515–18, 518–19, 519–20, 526, 538, 561
Cockerill, Alice, letters to, 572, 578
Commission Housing, 493
Poor Law, 567–9
Commons Preservation Society, 318, 335, 336, 338, 371, 388, 443, 538
Communion, 133
Confirmation, 97, 284
Cons, Emma, 15, 24, 33, 34, 59, 66, 71–2, 191, 250, 278, 287, 326, 328,
342, 355, 369, 394, 415, 489
Constantinople, 430
Co-operation, 14, 25, 54, 74
Cooper, Honble. Fredk., 480
Walter, 24, 25, 28, 31, 33, 35, 40
Cottages, 220, 276, 489–90, 503, 536, 541, 551, 562
Covington, Miss, 536
Crabbe, 170
Crane, Walter, 506
Crimean War, 94
Crockham Hill, 492–3, 495, 582
Cromwell, 156, 157, 158, 163, 327
Cross, Lord, 319, 321, 323
Crowder, A. G., 290, 352, 564
Daisies, 445
Dante, 119, 523, 533
Davies, Miss Emily, letter to, 209–11
Llewellyn, 180, 183, 221, 284, 394
De Morgan, 295–6
Denmark Hill, 103, 136
Deptford, 441, 450, 452, 453, 457, 458, 459, 460, 464, 466, 469, 479,
489, 491, 504, 507, 513, 527
Derwent Water, 196, 553
Dibdin, Sir Lewis, 562
Dickins, Mrs. Scrase, 524
Dickinson, Lowes, 174–5
Downs, Mr., 297
Downes, Dr., 568, 569
Dublin, 355
Ducie, Lady, 222, 254, 285, 287, 297, 302, 332, 351, 353, 397, 404,
457, 462, 471, 533
Lord, 285, 446, 471
letter to, 535
Dulwich, 27, 66, 125, 126, 127, 129, 136, 157, 169, 368
Dürer, Albert, 102–103
Durrant, Mrs., 105
letters to, 73, 75, 281, 481, 514–15, 526, 529
Dutch ladies, 507
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 440, 450, 452, 470–1, 502–3, 525, 536,
545–7, 548, 557–561, 580
letter to Sec., 474
History, 114–15
Edgeworth, Miss, 121
Edinburgh, 553–4, 557
Employment, 258, 266, 268, 529, 568
England, 109, 135, 137, 378, 416, 437
Epping Forest, 3, 4, 52
Evans, Richardson, 550
Eversley, Lord, 318
see Shaw-Lefevre
Examinations, 206, 209–11
Fairies, 5
Farrer, Lord, 488
Fawcett, H., 321, 350, 353, 477
Fellow Workers, letters to, 292–5, 452, 454, 524, 545, 557, 560, 565
Female Suffrage, 263
Finchley, 4–7, 14
Finlay, Mrs., 406
Fitch, Mrs., 327, 368
letter to, 291–2
Florence, 135, 140–2, 237
Footpaths Preservation, 481
Fra Angelico, 203
Fremantle, Rev. W., 253, 254, 258, 280, 283, 326
French language, 5, 139, 150
Freshwater Place, 189, 237, 292–7, 389–90, 440, 442, 443, 444, 577, 578
Friends, letters to, 559, 567, 569
Furnivall, F. J., 21, 22, 35, 88, 89, 150–1, 156
Gainsborough, 196
Gardiner, General, 394, 403
George Eliot, 245, 246
Gifts (their use and abuse), 227–8, 257, 356
Gillies, Miss Mary, 10, 72
letter to, 10
Miss Margaret, 10, 13, 381
Giotto, 165, 365
Gillum, Mrs., 244
letter to, 346–8
Gladstone, Miss, 504, 556
Goderich, Lord, 29
Godmanchester, 156, 162
Godwin, Mrs., 189, 297, 465
Gothic, 100, 165
Gowbarrow, see Ullswater
Graham, Joanna, 14, 21, 23
letters to, 24, 31. See Durrant
Greek mythology, 248–50
Gurney, Mrs. Russell, 524
Hamilton, Lord George, 549
letter to, 567–9
letter from, 569
Hampstead, 3, 17, 86, 315, 481
Vestry, 478
Heath, 18, 333, 350, 440
Hansard, Rev. S., 25
Hanson, Mrs., 580
letter to, 544
Harrison, Mrs., 19, 134
Mary, 19, 75, 134
letters to 47–58
Margaret, letter to, 82
Annie, 85
Emily, 189, 297
letters from, 388–90
Harriet, 189
Harris, Mary, 19, 66, 101, 113, 169, 170, 193, 197, 297, 532
letters to, 68, 72, 78, 89–96, 115, 185, 248–50, 272–3, 276, 284–7,
290, 305, 309, 310, 319–20, 325, 326, 328, 336–7, 338–9, 352, 500,
519, 524, 528
Annie and Edith, 199, 201
Hart, Ernest, 261, 311–12, 394
Haweis, Rev. H., 291, 315
Herbert, George, 143, 167, 339
Hidden Servants, 565–6
Highgate, 7, 18
Hill, Arthur, 3, 498, 576
Hill, Caroline Southwood, 2, 3, 4, 7, 13, 14, 15, 20, 32, 34–47, 96,
106, 109, 111, 117, 130, 153, 171, 195, 224, 247, 297, 347, 487,
528, 554–5, 566, 574
letters to, 7–8, 10, 11, 68, 112, 137, 200–2, 214, 356, 362–4,
369–71, 371–3, 374–81, 398, 399–401, 401–4, 405–8, 411–13, 413–14,
416–37, 446–8, 451, 455, 461, 462, 470, 474, 481, 482, 483, 489,
490–5, 497–8, 501–2, 503–4, 507–8, 510, 522–3, 530–2, 539, 541,
542, 544, 550, 553
letters from, 8–9, 100–1, 127, 204, 206, 303, 305, 352, 353, 358,
386, 438, 485, 511, 539, 541
Emily Southwood, 3, 4, 16, 18, 21, 129, 133, 137–8, 153, 170, 178,
190, 192, 200, 201, 204, 206, 271.
See Maurice
letters to, 35, 36, 39–46, 58, 59, 62, 66, 73, 76, 78, 88, 97, 99,
101, 111, 114, 138–9, 150–1, 162–3, 197–8, 206, 224–5, 234,
237–41, 241–2, 254, 255
letters from, 46, 104, 106, 115, 116–125, 130, 171, 179, 192, 193,
223, 230, 232, 233, 241
Florence, 3, 18, 19, 55, 81, 88, 98, 127, 166, 190, 363, 448, 462,
519, 533
letters to, 46, 97, 102–5, 106, 116–124, 129, 578
letters from, 108–10, 135, 140–2, 224
Gertrude, 3, 7, 18, 80, 113, 136, 157, 170, 173, 178, 218
letters to, 8, 9, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 99, 105–6, 112, 142–3, 186,
200.
See Lewes
James, 1–4
Hill, Kate, 3
letter from, 11
Louisa, 3
letter from, 7
Margaret, 3, 13.
See Whelpdale
Miranda, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13, 19, 21, 31, 46–47, 64, 101, 106, 114,
115, 122, 127, 169, 190, 200, 205, 207, 222, 224, 229, 240, 263,
297, 305, 316, 317, 339, 342, 347, 357, 363, 389, 459, 466, 468,
469, 489, 497, 501, 511, 523, 528, 549, 550, 570, 573, 582
letters to, 21, 33, 111, 114–15, 115–16, 124–6, 128–30, 132–36,
144–6, 148–50, 156–60, 163, 165, 171, 172, 173, 177, 178, 179,
180, 182, 186, 192–6, 198, 204, 209, 267, 271, 364, 368–9, 371,
372–4, 397–8, 401, 408–11, 413, 415–16, 484, 485, 487–9, 498–9,
516, 520–2, 566, 564, 565, 570
Hill, Miranda, letters from, 24, 31, 73, 75, 306, 311, 356, 367, 395,
399, 457, 470, 477, 481, 483, 486, 502, 514, 526, 529, 532
Hill, Octavia, birth and early years, 3–12
Ladies’ Guild, 13–15, 20–1, 23, 31–2
Work among toy-makers, 16–19, 20–1
Secretary of women’s classes, 79, 80
Relations with Ruskin, see Ruskin
Relations with F. D. Maurice, see Maurice
Begins housing work, 189–90
School at Nottingham Place, 190–1
Relations with Charity Organisation Society, 257–60
Difficulties with Vestry, 260–2
Attitude towards politics, 263
Artizans’ Dwellings Act, 264
Set free to work for the poor, 264
Begins Open Space movement, 315–18
Travels abroad, 364–86, 398–437
Relations with Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 440, 450, 452–4, 474–6
With Deptford, 441
Giving up school, 507
Final arrangements, 580–2
Illness and death, 580–2
Hill, Dr. and Mrs. (of Athens), 406, 408, 410
Hill, Davenport Matthew, 226
Florence, 263, 581
letters to, 226–8, 250, 253
Rosamond, 254, 465, 498, 581
Hilly Fields, 441, 521–2, 528
Hillside, 11, 19, 32, 447
Hoare, Saml., 488
Hobhouse, Lord, 488
Hogg, Miss, 469, 501, 504
Holbein, 196
Home life, 91
Homes of the London poor, 241, 265, 440–1, 449, 537
Hoole, Elijah, 489, 523, 564, 566
Hopwood, Mrs., 580
Horne, Mrs., 16, 31, 34, 76
Housing Question, 189–92, 212–15, 217, 219
Howitt, Charlton; 6, 60, 207
Margaret, 5–6, 10, 371–2, 537
letters to, 169, 178–185
Howitt, Mrs., 5, 47, 169
letter to, 110
letter from, 10
Miss, 35
William, 5, 373–4, 387
Huddy, Mrs., letter to, 353
Hughes, Thos., 40, 89, 172, 208, 209, 212, 262, 275, 284–5, 297, 303–4,
323, 352, 394, 446
Hughlings Jackson, 353
Hunter, Robert, 318, 336, 442–3, 459, 506, 540, 582
Hunt, Holman, 180, 212
William, 66
Ide Hill, 556, 574, 579
Idylls, 158, 170
Illuminations, 75, 91, 105–6
Inscriptions, 293–7, 480, 506
Industrial Provident Society’s Bill, 25
Inverness, 95
Irby, Miss, 433–4
Ironside, Miss, 544
Italy, 19, 81, 127, 135, 140–2, 234–242, 447
Jameson, Mrs., 78, 109
Jews, 46
persecution of, 521
Jex Blake, Dr. Sophia, 177, 180, 187, 192, 198
Johnson, Miss Janet, 524
Jubilee (Queen Victoria’s), 474
Kent and Surrey Committee, 538, 559
Kingsley, Rev. Chas., 24, 25, 40, 43, 44, 120, 144, 148–50, 212, 284–5
Koumondouros, 407, 411
Kurtzius, Herr, 422, 425
Kyrle Society, 317–18, 340, 342, 384, 395, 467
Ladies’ Guild, 13–16, 21, 23, 31–2, 80, 85
Lambeth, 545, 548
Larksfield, 492–3, 495, 580
Latin, 92, 201, 447
Lawn, The, 477, 483–5
Lawson, Malcolm, 317
Leeds, 3, 320, 355
Leighton, Sir S., 317
Le Maire, Miss, 441
Lewes, Blanche, 372, 447, 448, 555
letters to, 381–3, 385–6.
See Mrs. Hanson
Charles, 218, 297, 308, 315, 334, 394, 470, 485–6
Lewes, Elinor, 555.
See Ouvry
Maud, 381, 488.
See Hopwood
Mrs., 218, 224, 297, 347, 354, 355, 356, 363, 394, 447, 448, 486
letters from 367–8, 393
Library, 143–4
Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, 15–16, 40, 43, 62, 76, 77, 96, 284
Fields, 318, 346
Litchfield, R. B., 157, 555
Liverpool, 355
Lloyd Jones, 25
Loch, C. S., 260, 338, 504, 505, 506
Longley, Mr., 284, 286
London, 14, 118, 235, 261, 290, 322, 333, 335, 445, 534, 537, 567
County Council, 489
Longstaff, Dr., 468
Lowell, Russell, 300, 374, 439, 446, 528, 566
Ludlow, J. M., 22, 24, 31, 40, 157, 168
letter to, 330–1
Lumsden, Miss, 558, 560
Maas, Miss, 539
MacDonald, George, 216–17, 242, 288, 289–90, 297, 357, 398, 439, 457,
461, 462, 463, 482–3, 503
Greville, 191
Macdonell, Lady, 465
Amice, 465, 570
Malleson, Mrs., 182, 183
Mansfield, Chas., 36, 42, 43, 120
Manchester, 355
Bishop of, 459
Mansion House Fund, 256, 465, 468–9
Marlborough House, 103, 107
Marshall, Mrs. Julian, 467, 468, 505–6
Miss Louisa, letter to, 576
Mariners Hill, 549, 556, 567, 573, 579, 581
Martin, Miss, 320, 337
Martineau, Miss, 374
Marylebone Courts, 191, 212–4, 215, 227, 287, 327, 489
Road, 507, 514–15, 580, 581
Vestry, 260–2, 310–12, 325
Massey, Gerald, 25
Maurice, Cosette, 579
Maurice, F. D., 16, 20, 24–5, 28, 31, 32, 33, 39, 54, 55, 62, 68, 76,
78, 80, 82, 96, 97, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 134, 164, 170, 172,
174, 183, 186, 187, 192, 205, 216, 221, 225, 240, 279, 284, 451,
487, 500
Letter to, 152–6
Maurice, Edmund, 271, 277, 306, 317
Letters to, 323, 359, 457
Maurice, Mrs. Edmund, 277, 284, 347, 363, 462
Letters to, 278, 289, 303, 304, 305, 311, 314, 336, 350, 352, 353,
358, 359, 441, 442, 450, 456, 459, 460, 463, 464, 465, 467, 468,
511–12, 513, 532, 536, 540, 553, 562, 563
Letter from, 394
Girls’ Home, 225, 229, 284, 471, 472, 477
Maurice, Sir Fredk., 466, 490, 491
Mayo, Miss, 188, 242
Letters to, 242–4, 245–6, 269–71
Mayhew, 14
Mazzini, 359–62
Mechanics’ Institute, 25
Metropolitan Board of Works, 457, 460
Michael Angelo, 27
Milton Street, 127
Mocatta, 521
Modern Painters, 26, 35, 36, 60, 106, 116, 134, 136, 145, 157, 174,
177, 224
Money (its power), 90
Monteagle, Lord, 321, 352
Morris, Wm., 247, 383, 317, 446, 516, 517, 519–20
Muir, Miss, 408–10, 415, 417–19
Munich, 537
Murphy, Sir S., 564
Myers, F. W., 290
Names (their meanings), 55–6
Napoleon, Louis, 179, 244
National Health Society, 316
National Trust, 316, 506, 538, 553, 566, 575, 582
Neale, Vansittart, 14, 16, 24, 32, 54, 74, 75, 80, 83, 97, 101, 214
Nevinson, Henry, letter to, 534
Newton, Mr., 25
Nicholas I. (Czar), 41, 42
Nightingale, Florence, 126, 431, 484.
See Preface
Noel, Edward, 427, 428
Frank, 406, 428–9
Mrs. F., 428–30
Notting Hill, 560, 570, 576–7, 579
Nottingham Place, 186–90, 191, 193
Olympia, 423–5
One Tree Hill, 576
Open Spaces Committee, 317–18, 295–6, 384, 395–6
Movement, 317–18, 387–8, 393, 437, 441, 484, 486, 506, 540, 549
Orcagna, 203, 242
Ouvry, Elinor, 573, 580
Paradise Place, 217, 386, 440, 442, 445, 469
Paris, 440
Parliament Hill, 336, 440, 457, 458, 480, 487
Patras, 401, 419, 420
Pensions, 258, 388
Commission on, 526
Peterborough, 1
Peters, Miss, 299, 308, 337
Pickard, Mr., 25, 46–7
Pilgrim’s Progress, 439, 482–3, 494, 503
Playground, 189, 192, 229, 250–3, 315, 388–9, 443–4, 535
Plunkett, Miss, 536
Poland, 6, 13
Poor Law, 298–9, 549, 563–5, 567–9
Poor, relations with rich, 48, 256
Porter, Sir A. De Bock, 503, 562
Portrait, 357
Postman’s Park, 506
Potter, Miss, 339
Price, Miss, letter to, 541–2
Prince of Wales, 484–5, 511
Princess Alice, 265, 440, 538
Louise, 317, 511, 553, 582
Prout, 67
Public Houses, 261, 274, 281, 283, 326, 355, 367, 394–5
Queen’s College, 80, 193, 212
Ragged School Union, 20
Raphael, 27, 183
Rawnsley, Canon, 481, 506, 528, 582
Red Cross Cottages, 440, 503
Garden, 440, 454, 470–1, 504, 505, 525, 545, 563
Hall, 440, 477, 482, 498, 504, 506, 517, 533, 536, 540, 544
Rent Collecting. See Preface
Rest (duty of taking), 96
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 196
Riots, 464
Robins, Mrs., 170
Rochester, Bishop (Talbot), 463
Rogers, G., 15
Rogers, Miss, 15, 33, 75, 147, 170
Rogers, M. E., 204, 212
Rome, 398–9, 542
expeditions from 363, 364
Romford, 19, 86
Ross, Mrs., 242
Rossetti, 97, 222
Rowland, Miss, 281. See Barnett
Rubens 157
Ruskin, John, 20, 21, 29, 30, 33, 36–9, 40, 46–7, 55, 56–7, 62, 64,
66–7, 75, 93–5, 97, 99–100, 103–7, 115, 116–26, 129, 133, 136,
144–5, 146, 147, 159–60, 164, 165, 170, 173, 179, 187, 189, 192,
193, 199, 203, 204, 206, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 222, 261, 293,
297, 320, 364, 440, 442, 473–4, 481, 499, 500, 527, 543, 579
letters from, 107, 213, 218, 313–14, 340–2, 348–9, 445
letters to, 130–2, 220–1, 313, 383–4
Ruskin, Mrs., 219
Ruskin Memorial Fund treasurer, letter to, 543
Russian lady, 441
letter from, 449
Sacrifice, 32, 48, 57, 333, 485, 496, 513
St. Bernard, 550–2
St. Christopher, 351, 395, 413
St. Francis, 365–7, 463
Salvator Rosa, 131, 136
Sanitary (Ladies’ Association), 148
Reform, 148–50, 542
Schools, 2, 13, 16, 18, 111, 116, 184, 188, 190–1, 199–204, 207, 409,
507
Schuyler, Miss, 265
Georgina, letter to, 539
Selborne, Lord, 465, 524
Lady, 504
Senior, Mrs. Nassau, 188, 252, 318, 349, 352
Letters to, 273–5, 277, 279–81, 287–89, 298, 307, 324, 332–5
Sermons, 32, 41–6, 284
Servians, 433–4, 436
Severn, Mrs. A., 441
Sewell, Miss, 489, 517, 529, 541
Shaen, Lily, 578
Letter to, 577
Frank, 392
Margaret, letters to, 471, 529, 535, 555
Mrs., 297, 351
Letters to, 199, 211, 212, 219, 223, 225, 226, 232, 252, 276, 298,
308, 352, 387, 392, 444, 446, 471
Wm., 188, 192, 264, 297, 298, 440, 471–2
Letters to, 304, 342–3, 443
Shaftesbury, Lord, 132, 148, 284, 323
Shaw-Lefevre, G. (see Eversley), 320, 321, 338, 346, 459, 488
Sheffield, 442–3
Shuttleworth, Lord, 319, 321–2, 464, 465
Letter from, 323–4
Sim, Miss, 515, 532
Singing, 18, 28, 106, 113, 114, 133, 172, 213, 220
Smale, Wm., 297, 310
Smith, Caroline Southwood, 1
Her marriage, 2
Emily Southwood, 19, 81, 106, 108, 142, 234
Dr. Southwood, 1, 3, 7, 19, 69, 172, 189, 279, 542
Snails, 26
Southwark, 440, 450, 452, 453, 466, 467, 489, 491, 496, 501, 517, 545,
548, 582
Stanley, Dean, 212, 315, 320
Stansfeld, James, 273–4, 277, 278, 281, 297, 299
Sterling (Julia), 67–68, 95–6, 128, 132, 157, 169, 180, 183
(Kate), 68
Sunday Schools, 57
Question, 150–6
Swedish Ladies, 441
Swiss Cottage Fields, 291–2, 315, 331–4
Tailors’ Association, 23, 52
Tait, Bishop, 97
Miss, 536
Teetotallers, 310, 367, 393–4
Temple, Bishop, 486, 523
Tenants, 231, 232, 233, 253, 261, 265–7, 268, 277, 355
Parties, 230, 232, 447–8, 498
Tennyson, Alfred, 118, 143, 158, 176, 523
Frederick, 109
Hallam, 522, 523
Ter Meulen, Miss, 527
_Times (The)_, 29
Tintagel, 538
Tintoret, 66
Titian, 539–40
Tolstoi, 561–2
Tom Brown, 89–90
Toys Hill, 541, 556, 574
Toy-Workers, 16–19, 20, 48, 53, 73, 83–8, 101, 112–13
Training workers, 355, 356
Tricoupis, 407, 411–12
Turks, 400
Turnbull, Dr., 581
Turner, 66, 103, 105, 108, 121, 132, 136, 173, 174, 175, 203, 246
Tyndall, 502
Tyrol, 369–82
Ullswater, 197, 549
Vaccari, Signor, 359–62
Virgil, 224, 249–50, 364, 487
Viterbo, 530–1
Wakefield St., 450, 553
Wallace, Miss, 14
Walmer St., 266, 267
Walworth, 548, 562
Wandle, 550, 559, 565, 579
War Office, 549, 571
War, 39, 41–44, 142
Ward, Mr., 157
Watson, Mr., 243
Watts, G. F., 506
Wedgwood, Miss, 487
Westminster, Duke of, 284, 488
Westminster, 548
Weybridge, 18, 19, 46, 68, 98, 139, 172
Wisbeach, 1–3
Whelpdale, Mrs., 113, 115, 157, 297, 494, 519
Whitechapel, 43, 303, 305
White Cross Cottages, 503, 513
Wolseley, Lord, 490
Women’s position, 73
work, 13, 271, 299, 501, 529
Working Men’s College, 35, 54, 72, 174
Clubs, 299–301, 318, 390, 396–7
Working Women’s Classes, 54, 72, 79, 80, 98, 113, 115, 127, 132, 166,
169, 216
Yarnall, Agnes, 147
Ellis, 19–20, 147
Mrs., 147, 181
Yeast, 31
Yorke, Miss, 354, 356, 362, 364, 370, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379–80, 385,
417, 435, 461, 472, 486, 488, 492–3, 498, 515, 562, 580, 581
THE END
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E.,
AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
-----
Footnote 1:
Wordsworth wrote “frame,” but Mr. Hill altered it.
Footnote 2:
Octavia called the mother pigeon “May,” and the young one had been
hatched in a dark loft.
Footnote 3:
_See_ “Dr. Southwood Smith, a Retrospect.” By Mrs. C. L. Lewis. 1898.
Footnote 4:
Miss Gillies and her sister Margaret were Mrs. Hill’s bridesmaids, and
became life-long friends of her and her children.
Footnote 5:
Wife of R. H. Horne.
Footnote 6:
A vivid account of the life of the toy-workers appeared on May 17th,
1856, in _Household Words_, under the title of “Ragged Robin.”
Footnote 7:
Mentioned in the letter of February 27th, 1856.
Footnote 8:
Journal of Association.
Footnote 9:
Promoters of Working Men’s Association.
Footnote 10:
A party of four people.
Footnote 11:
Afterwards Lord Ripon.
Footnote 12:
Three years earlier Dr. Furnivall lent Mrs. Hill Ruskin’s “Modern
Painters,” and Octavia read it then for the first time.
Footnote 13:
Charles Mansfield, author of “Letters from Paraguay,” and one of the
Christian Socialist leaders.
Footnote 14:
During the Crimean War.
Footnote 15:
Octavia never took any notes. Her recollections of the sermons are
wholly from memory.
Footnote 16:
The Czar Nicholas.
Footnote 17:
By Charles Kingsley.
Footnote 18:
1851 or 1852, certainly not later.
Footnote 19:
Builder connected with Co-operative Society.
Footnote 20:
After the glass had been painted, a hard composition was put at the
back to make it solid enough to bear a weight. Sometimes it broke in
the process, and the painting had to be done over again.
Footnote 21:
Turner’s “Old Teméraire.”
Footnote 22:
Kate Sterling, afterwards Mrs. Ross.
Footnote 23:
The morning daily service to which she was accustomed to go.
Footnote 24:
The Toy-workers.
Footnote 25:
Presumably Miss Emma Cons.
Footnote 26:
She went every _afternoon_ to Lincoln’s Inn.
Footnote 27:
Octavia was confirmed at Christ Church, Marylebone, by Tait, then
Bishop of London.
Footnote 28:
Formerly nurse to Octavia and her elder sisters at Wisbeach, then
married to a tailor in London.
Footnote 29:
Composed by Octavia.
Footnote 30:
Miss Margaret Gillies.
Footnote 31:
Miss Emily Smith.
Footnote 32:
The little toy-worker who had cared so much for the cat.
Footnote 33:
Octavia’s half-sister, Mrs. Whelpdale.
Footnote 34:
She was drawing for Ruskin and walking a great part of the way to
Dulwich and back and standing there for five or six hours.
Footnote 35:
Miss Harrison, with whom she was to travel.
Footnote 36:
Chartres Cathedral.
Footnote 37:
Octavia had only learned a little French from her mother, and had had
no practice in speaking except a _very_ little to the refugee Poles,
who worked at the Ladies’ Guild, eight years previously.
Footnote 38:
Miss Emily Smith.
Footnote 39:
The wife of Mr. Ellis Yarnall and sister of Miss Harrison.
Footnote 40:
One of the girls who made toys.
Footnote 41:
The daughter of a former nurse.
Footnote 42:
She was teaching all day.
Footnote 43:
Miranda’s former pupils, whom Mrs. Hill was teaching.
Footnote 44:
Where Octavia was drawing.
Footnote 45:
A visit to Wales, where she first saw mountains.
Footnote 46:
The landlord of 14, Nottingham Place.
Footnote 47:
How difficult some of Octavia’s zealous workers found this problem may
be gathered from the following story:—On one occasion she heard a
stormy altercation going on between one of her collectors and a
tenant, and found that the point at issue was whether the rent due was
6_s._ 11_d._ or 7_s._ all but a penny.
Footnote 48:
After her return from Italy.
Footnote 49:
Miss Harris’s five nieces of whom she had charge.
Footnote 50:
At Nottingham Place.
Footnote 51:
Written by Miranda for her _little_ pupils.
Footnote 52:
First reference to the housing schemes.
Footnote 53:
Mr. William Shaen.
Footnote 54:
The marriage of Gertrude to Charles Lewes, son of G. H. Lewes.
Footnote 55:
Mrs. Hill and her three daughters were staying near Falmouth in a
cottage lent them by Miss Sterling.
Footnote 56:
Miss Sterling’s servant.
Footnote 57:
Hugh’s wife.
Footnote 58:
This was afterwards known as the “Maurice Girls’ Home.”
Footnote 59:
One of the first tenants. Her only boy died in hospital. She was a
widow who went very early to work. Octavia and her sisters went every
morning for some weeks to get the children ready for school, until
they had learnt to do it themselves.
Footnote 60:
A name her sister Miranda gave her, because she attracted so many
persons to join her in all she did.
Footnote 61:
Mentioned in the “Homes of the London Poor.”
Footnote 62:
Marylebone Road.
Footnote 63:
A former pupil.
Footnote 64:
This refers to a performance of the “Merchant of Venice” in Dr.
Martineau’s schoolroom in Portland Street. Octavia acted Portia.
Footnote 65:
A present to her from the tenants on her return after illness.
Footnote 66:
This refers to the appointment of Mrs. Nassau Senior, as the first
woman inspector of workhouses, by Mr. Stansfeld, President of the Poor
Law Board.
Footnote 67:
Secretary of the Local Government Board.
Footnote 68:
An allusion to her grandfather, Dr. Southwood Smith.
Footnote 69:
A cupboard sent specially from Cumberland, dated 1605.
Footnote 70:
She was on a tour in Scotland with George MacDonald and his family.
Footnote 71:
Afterwards Mrs. Loch.
Footnote 72:
Daughter of Ellis Yarnall.
Footnote 73:
This article came out in _British Quarterly Review_.
Footnote 74:
This refers to the formation of an Administrative Committee of the
Charity Organisation Society to be elected by the local committees.
Footnote 75:
This refers to the movement for purchasing the Swiss Cottage Fields
for the public.
Footnote 76:
The Swiss Cottage Fields.
Footnote 77:
Now better known as Parliament Hill.
Footnote 78:
Now Lady Courtney.
Footnote 79:
This is the letter by which Miranda inaugurated the Kyrle Society.
Footnote 80:
A reference to Octavia’s past attempt to save the Swiss Cottage
Fields.
Footnote 81:
A house in Paddington Street which Octavia undertook to manage.
Footnote 82:
The Kyrle Society.
Footnote 83:
_Re_ Kyrle Society.
Footnote 84:
A premature attempt to get the gardens of Lincoln’s Inn Fields open to
the public.
Footnote 85:
This refers to a petition circulated among the electors of Marylebone
asking Mr. Hughes to come forward again at the next election.
Footnote 86:
She boarded out one of these orphans in memory of Mrs. N. Senior.
Footnote 87:
The artist who painted Octavia, and who, afterwards, went out to
Father Damien, to help the lepers.
Footnote 88:
The Charity Organisation Committees.
Footnote 89:
Her Donation Fund.
Footnote 90:
A tenant.
Footnote 91:
About a playground in Whitechapel.
Footnote 92:
Miranda’s Fairy Story.
Footnote 93:
This evidently refers to the seizure of several Englishmen and their
subsequent massacre.
Footnote 94:
A churchyard that had just been laid out by the Kyrle Society. It was
opened by the Princess Louise.
Footnote 95:
She had just returned from a short visit to the George MacDonalds’ at
Bordighera where M. was staying.
Footnote 96:
The rent collecting day.
Footnote 97:
An open space near the Southwark cottages.
Footnote 98:
Hon. Sec. of the Kyrle Society.
Footnote 99:
A poor woman whose family O. had sent to the north, thereby raising
them from extreme poverty to comfortable independence.
Footnote 100:
Charles Lewes, husband of Octavia’s sister Gertrude.
Footnote 101:
For the Jubilee services.
Footnote 102:
Canon Rawnsley.
Footnote 103:
This is the pass over Skiddaw mentioned in previous letter.
Footnote 104:
When she went to Larksfield she spent much time in clearing thistles
in the garden ground, which had been a neglected field.
Footnote 105:
To the first L.C.C.
Footnote 106:
The Moral Ideal.
Footnote 107:
He was Alderman of the first L.C.C.
Footnote 108:
Mrs. Lewes’ second daughter, afterwards Mrs. J. Hopwood.
Footnote 109:
The architect who for forty-two years helped Octavia.
Footnote 110:
About Housing.
Footnote 111:
In “Aurora Leigh.”
Footnote 112:
House of her half-brother, Arthur Hill.
Footnote 113:
Acted by George MacDonald and his family.
Footnote 114:
Mr. Loch, on his part, was impressed with her way of seizing the point
that was “eternally important;” and he has, since her death, expressed
a wish to use the influence of the C.O.S. in the direction of those
more positive reforms in which she was specially engaged in Notting
Hill.
Footnote 115:
This portrait was left by Octavia to the National Portrait Gallery.
Footnote 116:
The house to which they moved after school was given up.
Footnote 117:
The tenants in the Deptford courts.
Footnote 118:
The violent behaviour of the tenants at Deptford.
Footnote 119:
One of the most respectable tenants.
Footnote 120:
Mrs. Whelpdale, Octavia’s half-sister.
Footnote 121:
This refers to some small freehold houses given by Mrs. Scrase Dickins
to be held in trust by Lord Wolmer, Miss Johnson, and Octavia, on the
understanding that the interest accruing from the gift should be
devoted to some good object.
Footnote 122:
South America.
Footnote 123:
The first bit of land given to the National Trust.
Footnote 124:
Lady Ducie left to Octavia a valuable freehold which had been managed
by Octavia for many years.
Footnote 125:
Mr. Lawrence Chubb.
Footnote 126:
An old Church House in Kent.
Footnote 127:
A well given by Octavia to Toys Hill village, the spring being
discovered by a “water-finder.”
Footnote 128:
The description refers to the dedication to the public of the land at
Brandlehow, near Derwentwater.
Footnote 129:
Mrs. Hill was nearly ninety-four years of age at her death.
Footnote 130:
Mr. R. B. Litchfield, one of the founders of the Working Men’s College
in Great Ormond Street (now in Crowndale Road).
Footnote 131:
This letter alludes to a proposed visit to Letchworth where she had
been asked to assist in judging the merits of certain model cottages
which were to be exhibited there.
Footnote 132:
Daughter of Sir John Macdonell and of Octavia’s old friend, the niece
of Mary Howitt.
Footnote 133:
In memory of Miranda.
Footnote 134:
Mr. and Mrs. Ouvry.
Footnote 135:
A proposed addition to the Ide Hill land.
Footnote 136:
Mr. Nigel Bond, Secretary of National Trust.
Footnote 137:
Her brother, Arthur Hill.
Footnote 138:
The above letter refers to a gift from a servant, for Mariners’ Hill.
Footnote 139:
A very dear friend of Miranda’s.
Footnote 140:
General Maurice’s daughter, who had been working in Notting Hill with
Miss Yorke and Octavia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. P. 80, added “WORKING WOMEN’S CLASSES AND ART TRAINING” from the
Contents to the Chapter title.
2. P. 338, changed “Thanks for letter” to “Thanks for the letter”.
3. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
4. Anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as
printed.
5. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together
at the end of the last chapter.
6. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.