Rosalind Mary Theodosia Hill (14 November 1908 – 11 January 1997) was an English historian who for 39 years was a lecturer,
Reader and Professor in History at
Westfield College
Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
, a
constituent college
A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Col ...
of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
.
[Rosalind Mary Theodosia Hill]
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
Biography
Rosalind Hill was born on 14 November 1908 at Leighton House,
Neston-cum-Parkgate,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, the youngest of three daughters and four children of Ellen Mary Stratford, ''née'' Danson and
Sir Norman Hill (1863–1944), a prominent shipping solicitor and notary in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
who acted as secretary of the Liverpool Steamship Owners' Association from 1893 to 1924 and was Chairman of the Board of Trade advisory committee on shipping from 1907 to 1937. He was knighted in 1911 and created baronet in 1919.
[ When Sir Norman built Green Place,][History of Green Place, Stockbridge= Hampshire Gardens Trust website]
/ref> a large house at Stockbridge in Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, Rosalind Hill immersed herself in local life and tradition, especially after she inherited the title of Lady of the Manor following the death of her brother during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Her devotion to the village was such that she is commemorated by Rosalind Hill House, a home for the elderly in the village.[ She donated Green Place to the ]National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
in 1946.[
Hill was educated at the Downs School in Seaford in ]Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
before studying history at St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College (full name = Principal and Council of St. Hilda's College, Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon saint Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a ...
(1928–1931), where she gained a first-class degree in modern history[Obituary for Rosalind Hill, St Hilda's College report and chronicle (1997–1998), pgs. 137–142]
/ref> before taking a Bachelor of Letters
Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in ...
degree in 1932 with a thesis on ''English Ecclesiastical Letter-Books of the Thirteenth Century'' which was privately printed in 1937.[Rosalind Hill (1908–1997) - Crusader Studies]
- Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...
For a short period she taught medieval history at University College, Leicester, where John H. Plumb
Sir John (Jack) Harold Plumb (20 August 1911 – 21 October 2001) was a British historian, known for his books on British 18th-century history.
Biography
Plumb was born in Leicester on 20 August 1911. He was educated at Alderman Newton's Sch ...
was among her students.[
Plumb later wrote of her:
]
She was very young and nervous: she fluttered her papers, talked too quickly, and went pink-cheeked with terror, yet she managed to bring the medieval world alive. She knew the problems it was vital for a young historian to know about. ... I never missed a lecture. Medieval history sprang to life and I became, and remained, an addict.[
]
In 1937 Hill was appointed a lecturer in History at Westfield College
Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
, and here she was to remain for the rest of her academic career as lecturer (1937–1955); Reader in History (1955–1971); and Professor of History (1971–1976), retiring as Professor Emerita and Vice-Principal.[ As a scholar and researcher she was particularly active in her work with medieval bishops' registers, especially those of Oliver Sutton of Lincoln in ''The Rolls and Register of Bishop Oliver Sutton 1280–1299'' (published in eight volumes, 1948–1986), and for her edition of the first chronicle of the ]First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...
, ''Gesta Francorum et Aliorum Hierosolimitanorum'' (1962). Her love of animals was expressed in her pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...
''Both Small and Great Beasts'' (1953) written on behalf of the University Federation for Animal Welfare and illustrated by the cartoonist Fougasse and which explored the treatment of animals during the Middle Ages.[ She was Secretary (1963–1973) and President (1973–1974) of the ]Ecclesiastical History Society
The Ecclesiastical History Society (EHS) is a British learned historical society founded in 1961 to foster interest in, and to advance the study of, all areas of the history of the Christian Church through twice yearly conferences and publication ...
and Editor and Chairman of the Canterbury and York Society.[ She was also a member of the seminars on the Crusades at the ]Institute of Historical Research
The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...
.[
At Westfield College Hill worked with ]Mary Stocks
Mary Danvers Stocks, Baroness Stocks (née Brinton; 25 July 1891 – 6 July 1975) was a British writer. She was closely associated with the Strachey, the Wedgwood and the Ricardo families. Her family was deeply involved in changes in the Vict ...
(principal of Westfield College 1939-1951) who had been heavily involved in women's suffrage. Hill was interviewed about Stocks and their time at Westfield College, by the historian, Brian Harrison, as part of the Suffrage Interviews project, titled ''Oral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements: the Brian Harrison interviews''
After retiring Hill shared a house with former Westfield colleagues Christina Barratt and Gwen Chambers at 7 Loom Lane in Radlett
Radlett is a large village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 10,060. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and forms part of the civil parish of A ...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
and here she died of heart failure on 11 January 1997 aged 88Rosalind Mary T Hill in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
- Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...
before being cremated at St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
. She never married.
Select publications
*''Public Penance: Some Problems of a Thirteenth-Century Bishop'', History, vol 36 (1951), pp 213–226.
*''Both Small and Great Beasts: On the Attitude of Men towards Animals in the Middle Ages'' (London, 1953).
*''The Theory and Practice of Excommunication in Medieval England'', History, vol 42 (1957), pp 1–11.
*''Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum'' (London, 1962).
*''Unfashionable History: An Inaugural Lecture'' (London, 1972).
*''Uncovenanted Blessings of Ecclesiastical Records'', Studies in Church History, vol 11 (Oxford, 1975), pp 135–146.
*''Air and Portentous Heresy’, Studies in Church History'', vol 13 (Oxford, 1976), pp 135–140.
*''The Christian view of the Muslims at the time of the First Crusade'', The Eastern Mediterranean Lands in the Period of the Crusades, ed PM Holt (Warminster, 1977), pp 1–80.
For a full bibliography of Hill's publications to 1978, see ''Medieval Women: Dedicated and Presented to Professor Rosalind M T Hill on the Occasion of her Seventieth Birthday'', ed D Baker, Studies in Church History: Subsidia 1 (Oxford, 1978), pp 381–385.[
]
References
External links
Obituary - Professor Rosalind Mary Theodosia Hill, M.A., B.Litt
- Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Rosalind
1908 births
1997 deaths
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English historians
Academics of the University of Leicester
Academics of Westfield College
Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford
British animal welfare scholars
English women historians
English pamphleteers
Daughters of baronets
Presidents of the Ecclesiastical History Society
People from Neston