George Birkbeck Norman Hill
Encyclopedia
George Birkbeck Norman Hill (7 June 1835 - 24 February 1903), English
editor and author, son of Arthur Hill, headmaster of Bruce Castle School
, was born at Bruce Castle
, Tottenham, Middlesex
. He dropped his third name, Norman, publishing as just George Birkbeck Hill; to family and friends he was known as Birkbeck, not as George. His mother died when he was four years old; on her father's side, she was related to Frederick Denison Maurice.
Arthur Hill, with his brothers Rowland Hill
, the postal reformer and Matthew Davenport Hill
, afterwards recorder of Birmingham had worked out a system of education which was to exclude compulsion of any kind. The school at Bruce Castle, of which Arthur Hill was head master, was founded to carry into execution their theories, known as the Hazelwood system, after Hazelwood School, Birmingham, that preceded it. George Birkbeck Hill was educated in his father's school and at Pembroke College, Oxford
, where he made lasting friendships with Edward Burne-Jones
and William Morris
. It was also at Oxford that he began his writing career, contributing articles to William Fulford's Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. HIll suffered a serious attack of typhoid fever in 1856 which left him in a delicate state of health. Consequently, he only received an 'honorary' fourth class degree in 1858, although he was later awarded a Bachelor of Civil Law in 1866 and a Doctor of Civil Law in 1871 in recognition of his contribution to English letters.
In 1858 Hill began to teach at Bruce Castle School
, and from 1868 to 1877 was headmaster, succeeding his father. He married Annie Scott, the sister of a friend from his schooldays, on 29 December 1858. Partly to relieve what he felt to be the tedium of running the school, Hill returned to writing and reviewing. In 1869, he became a regular contributor to the Saturday Review
, with which he remained in connection until 1884. On his retirement from teaching he devoted himself to the study of English 18th century literature, and established his reputation as the most learned commentator on the works of Samuel Johnson
.
Remaining true to his family's radical roots, Hill was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and actively campaigned on behalf of Gladstone in the mid 1880s. He settled at Oxford
in 1887, and in 1889 made a trip retracing the footsteps of Johnson and Boswell's Scottish trip, but from 1891 onwards his winters were usually spent abroad for his health. He died at Hampstead, London
, on 27 February 1903 and bequeathed his Johnsonian library to Pembroke College, Oxford
. He and his wife Annie are buried at Aspley Guise
. They had five sons and two daughters; all seven children were born at Tottenham. One son died in 1882. Three of their five sons were knighted: Sir Maurice Hill, a judge on the High Court, Sir Norman Hill, a well-known legal authority on shipping, and Sir Leonard Erskine Hill
, a physiologist made F.R.S. Their elder Margaret daughter married Sir William James Ashley.
George Birkbeck Hill was editor of the published letters (1874-1879) of Charles George Gordon
; this editorial role arose from a family connection. Birkbeck Hill's wife Annie was the sister of Sir John Scott (1841-1904), who was judicial advisor to the Khedive
from 1891 to 1898 and a close personal friend of Charles George Gordon. Birkbeck Hill's sister Laura was the second wife of Sir John Scott's father.
George Birkbeck Hill's works include:
Dr Birkbeck Hill's elaborate edition of Boswell's Life is a monumental work, invaluable to the student.
See a memoir by his nephew, Harold Spencer Scott, in the edition of the Lives of the English Poets (1905), and the Letters edited by his younger daughter, Lucy Crump, in 1903.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
editor and author, son of Arthur Hill, headmaster of Bruce Castle School
Bruce Castle School
Bruce Castle School, at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, was a progressive school for boys established in 1827 as an extension of Rowland Hill's Hazelwood School at Edgbaston...
, was born at Bruce Castle
Bruce Castle
Bruce Castle is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Lordship Lane, Tottenham, London. It is named after the House of Bruce who formerly owned the land on which it is built. Believed to stand on the site of an earlier building, about which little is known, the current house is one of the...
, Tottenham, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. He dropped his third name, Norman, publishing as just George Birkbeck Hill; to family and friends he was known as Birkbeck, not as George. His mother died when he was four years old; on her father's side, she was related to Frederick Denison Maurice.
Arthur Hill, with his brothers Rowland Hill
Rowland Hill (postal reformer)
Sir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of penny postage and his solution of prepayment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters...
, the postal reformer and Matthew Davenport Hill
Matthew Davenport Hill
Matthew Davenport Hill was an English lawyer and penologist.He was born at Birmingham, where his father, Thomas Wright Hill, for long conducted a private school. He was a brother of Sir Rowland Hill. He acted as assistant in his father's school, but in 1819 was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn...
, afterwards recorder of Birmingham had worked out a system of education which was to exclude compulsion of any kind. The school at Bruce Castle, of which Arthur Hill was head master, was founded to carry into execution their theories, known as the Hazelwood system, after Hazelwood School, Birmingham, that preceded it. George Birkbeck Hill was educated in his father's school and at Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:...
, where he made lasting friendships with Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
and William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
. It was also at Oxford that he began his writing career, contributing articles to William Fulford's Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. HIll suffered a serious attack of typhoid fever in 1856 which left him in a delicate state of health. Consequently, he only received an 'honorary' fourth class degree in 1858, although he was later awarded a Bachelor of Civil Law in 1866 and a Doctor of Civil Law in 1871 in recognition of his contribution to English letters.
In 1858 Hill began to teach at Bruce Castle School
Bruce Castle School
Bruce Castle School, at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, was a progressive school for boys established in 1827 as an extension of Rowland Hill's Hazelwood School at Edgbaston...
, and from 1868 to 1877 was headmaster, succeeding his father. He married Annie Scott, the sister of a friend from his schooldays, on 29 December 1858. Partly to relieve what he felt to be the tedium of running the school, Hill returned to writing and reviewing. In 1869, he became a regular contributor to the Saturday Review
Saturday Review (London)
The Saturday Review of politics, literature, science, and art was a London weekly newspaper established by A. J. B. Beresford Hope in 1855....
, with which he remained in connection until 1884. On his retirement from teaching he devoted himself to the study of English 18th century literature, and established his reputation as the most learned commentator on the works of Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
.
Remaining true to his family's radical roots, Hill was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and actively campaigned on behalf of Gladstone in the mid 1880s. He settled at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1887, and in 1889 made a trip retracing the footsteps of Johnson and Boswell's Scottish trip, but from 1891 onwards his winters were usually spent abroad for his health. He died at Hampstead, London
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, on 27 February 1903 and bequeathed his Johnsonian library to Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:...
. He and his wife Annie are buried at Aspley Guise
Aspley Guise
Aspley Guise is a village and civil parish located in central Bedfordshire, England. It is just over the county border from Woburn Sands in the Borough of Milton Keynes and about by road to Milton Keynes Centre and to the M1 London to Yorkshire motorway junction 13.-Notable buildings:The...
. They had five sons and two daughters; all seven children were born at Tottenham. One son died in 1882. Three of their five sons were knighted: Sir Maurice Hill, a judge on the High Court, Sir Norman Hill, a well-known legal authority on shipping, and Sir Leonard Erskine Hill
Leonard Erskine Hill
Sir Leonard Erskine Hill was a British physiologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900 and was knighted in 1930. One of his sons was the epidemiologist and statistician Austin Bradford Hill...
, a physiologist made F.R.S. Their elder Margaret daughter married Sir William James Ashley.
George Birkbeck Hill was editor of the published letters (1874-1879) of Charles George Gordon
Charles George Gordon
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
; this editorial role arose from a family connection. Birkbeck Hill's wife Annie was the sister of Sir John Scott (1841-1904), who was judicial advisor to the Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
from 1891 to 1898 and a close personal friend of Charles George Gordon. Birkbeck Hill's sister Laura was the second wife of Sir John Scott's father.
George Birkbeck Hill's works include:
- Dr Johnson, his Friends and his Critics (1878)
- an edition of Boswell's Correspondence (1879)
- a laborious edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson, including Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, and Johnson's Diary of a Journey into North Wales (Clarendon Press, 6 vols., 1887)
- Wit and Wisdom of Samuel Johnson (1888)
- Select Essays of Dr Johnson (1889)
- Footsteps of Dr Johnson in Scotland (1890)
- Letters of Johnson (1892)
- Johnsonian Miscellanies (2 vols., 1897)
- an edition (1900) of Edward GibbonEdward GibbonEdward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
's Autobiography - Johnson's Lives of the Poets (3 vols., 1905)
Dr Birkbeck Hill's elaborate edition of Boswell's Life is a monumental work, invaluable to the student.
See a memoir by his nephew, Harold Spencer Scott, in the edition of the Lives of the English Poets (1905), and the Letters edited by his younger daughter, Lucy Crump, in 1903.