Arthur William Hill, 1875 - 1941

Abstract

Arthur William Hill was born at Watford on 11 October 1875 and was the only son of Daniel Hill, who retired from a strenuous business life in the early ’nineties. Daniel Hill had a large and beautiful garden at Watford, the care of which was his chief interest, and it was through him that Arthur W. Hill imbibed during his boyhood the sound practical knowledge of most branches of horticulture which was to stand him in such good stead later. Hill entered Marlborough College in 1890, living in a house in the town from which he went to the school as a day boy. At Marlborough he began to take a great interest in field botany, largely through the influence of a classical master, the late Edward Meyrick, F.R.S., who was himself a keen naturalist. Marlborough is one of the best districts in England for the study of wild plants, and in after life Hill used often to refer to the large number of orchids he found on the Marlborough Downs as a schoolboy. There is no doubt that the environment of Marlborough exercised a great influence on Hill: he returned there as often as possible to visit his old school and to enjoy the solace of riding and walking in Savernake Forest and on the Downs. For many years until his death he was an honorary member of the Marlborough College Natural History Society, and he bequeathed to the college a considerable part of his estate. Hill sat for the entrance scholarship examination of one of the groups of Cambridge colleges in 1893, and it is related that one of his examiners made a special appeal for an award to him on the ground that his botanical knowledge and enthusiasm gave evidence of greater promise than the mark-list showed. He was awarded an exhibition at King’s College, and never was award better justified. He was subsequently made a Foundation Scholar of the college.