Laurence Hill 25th July 1791 - 21st February 1872
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Born in Edinburgh and became an extremely successful lawyer in Glasgow, retiring in 1840 at the age of 49. He married twice and had a total of 16 children, 13 from the first marriage and 3 from his second marriage, on 16th June 1834, to his cousin Marion Hill. He lived at Frogmoor House, Burley Lawn, Burley from 1844 until 1856 when he moved back to Barlanark House, Glasgow. The family later moved to Toronto, Canada, where Marion died in 1874 (although buried in Glasgow). See Hardcastle, p. 190: ‘William Fey is rated for “Frog Moor” in 1822 but whether or not he gave the land this name is unknown. Later Mr Lawrence Hill built his new house on this site and carried on the same name, but since that house was burnt down (cir. 1875) its use has rather fallen to decay.’ p. 203: In 1842 the Nursery was bought by Hill, also from William Fey, and became the garden of his new house Frogmoor. It would appear that he also bought a number of other nearby properties which he rented out including Mill Cottage and North Farm. See Laurence Hill Burley Lawn Estate page. |
Pencil sketch of Frogmore House pre 1858 plus watercolour painted in June 1858 after the fire and drawing:
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Ground and First Floor plan drawings:
Frogmore House clearly shown on 1846 Tithe Map and the 1871 OS map of Burley Lawn but no remaining trace on the 1895 map.
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Above extracts from 6 inch OS maps LXXI Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
He wrote a report on "The present state and proposed improvement" of the New Forest to the Lord Chief Commissioner of her Majesty's Woods and Forests in 1848. Online version here.
May Day in the New Forest 1852 (The Illustrated London News, May 8th 1852):- “At three o’clock, the children, numbering 140, came upon the lawn, preceded by an excellent brass band, and accompanied by W Clement D Esdaile, Esq., of Burley Park; and Mrs Laurence Hill, of Burley Lawn; the organisers of the fete”. See also: May Days in Burley
May Day in the New Forest 1852 (The Illustrated London News, May 8th 1852):- “At three o’clock, the children, numbering 140, came upon the lawn, preceded by an excellent brass band, and accompanied by W Clement D Esdaile, Esq., of Burley Park; and Mrs Laurence Hill, of Burley Lawn; the organisers of the fete”. See also: May Days in Burley
Envelope addressed to Laurence Hill while living at Frogmore House, Burley dated 5th May 1849.
The 1851 Census for The Vill of Burley lists part of the Hill family (Marion Hill LLB [age 45], 6 of their daughters [of which the eldest 4 were Marion's step-daughters] aged 8 to 32 years, and 5 female servants [aged 12 to 24]) living at "Frog Moore", Burley Lawn.
"Simplifield" family tree:
More here on William Henry Hill and The Burley Lawn Estate.
Violet Wilhelmina Grahame (Granddaughter of Laurence Hill) was born in Canada. In 1893 her sister Ottilie (Grahame) Schreiber died a few weeks after the birth of her fourth child, who was then named Ottilie Marion in her memory. Violet helped to look after the three young Schreiber girls (her nieces Marjorie, Marion and Ottilie) after their mother's death.
Violet emigrated to Paignton, England (1901 Census) and for a while lived with the artist Charlotte Schreiber (her nieces step-grandmother), after the death of her husband Weymouth Schreiber. She travelled regularly between Canada and England and in 1930 was living in the newly built Leafy Screen in Burley, where she died in 1936.
In the acknowledgements to the 1st edition of Records of Burley (and reproduced in the 2nd edition), Felicite Hardcastle says -
"The second is to Miss Violet Grahame at whose suggestion these Records were collected, and without whose inspiration and help they would certainly never have been written".
Violet emigrated to Paignton, England (1901 Census) and for a while lived with the artist Charlotte Schreiber (her nieces step-grandmother), after the death of her husband Weymouth Schreiber. She travelled regularly between Canada and England and in 1930 was living in the newly built Leafy Screen in Burley, where she died in 1936.
In the acknowledgements to the 1st edition of Records of Burley (and reproduced in the 2nd edition), Felicite Hardcastle says -
"The second is to Miss Violet Grahame at whose suggestion these Records were collected, and without whose inspiration and help they would certainly never have been written".
A painting, circa 1890, by Charlotte Schreiber in the National Gallery of Ottawa, entitled "Naughty Girl", with Ottilie (Grahame) Schreiber on the right and her younger sister Violet Grahame on the left.
Wiki page on notable English-Canadian artist Charlotte Mount Brock Schreiber.
Fascinating memoir of Nina Mary Graham Joy (niece of Violet Grahame, who also looked after her as a child).
William Henry Hill wrote an extremely well researched history of the Hill family "The Early Records of an old Glasgow family" (1520-1791) of which only 50 copies were printed.