Octavia Hill was a nineteenth-century English social reformer and writer dedicated to improving the lives of urban residents, particularly in London. Born in Wisbech in 1838, she was raised in a family of radical thinkers and was home-educated by her mother. Throughout her career, she focused on providing better housing for the working classes and preserving natural spaces for public use. She is most widely recognized as a founding member of the National Trust, an organization established to protect historic sites and areas of natural beauty.