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Amelia Robertson Hill

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Amelia Robertson Hill (15 January 1821 – 5 July 1904), birth record Emmilia McDermaid Paton,[1] was a prominent Scottish artist and sculptor throughout the 19th century and one of the few with public commissions. Her most noteworthy works are the statue of David Livingstone in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh and statue of Robert Burns in Dumfries. She was the main female contributor to the statues on the Scott Monument, contributing three figures.[2]

Amelia Robertson Hill
Sketch by Alexander Blaikley 1853, SNPG
Born
Emmilla McDermaid Paton

(1821-01-15)15 January 1821
Dunfermline, Scotland
Died5 July 1904(1904-07-05) (aged 83)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Resting placeDean Cemetery
Occupation(s)Artist and sculptor
SpouseDavid Octavius Hill
RelativesJoseph Noel Paton (brother), Waller Hugh Paton (brother), Diarmid Noel Paton (nephew)

Life

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Hill was born in Wooer's Alley, Dunfermline, the daughter of Catherine McDiarmid (d. 1853) and Joseph Neil Paton (1797–1874), a damask designer. Her sister Jemima, born on 11 November 1823. Her brothers were artists Joseph Noel Paton (1821–1901) and Waller Hugh Paton (1828–1895).[1] She appears to have trained as a sculptor under William Brodie in Edinburgh.[2]

In 1862 she married the pioneer photographer David Octavius Hill. She was his second wife. They lived in Edinburgh. His role as secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy played a part in this. In 1861 they moved to George Square, and in 1863 to Calton Stairs. In 1868 they set up home at Rock House, on the south-west corner of Calton Hill near the southern entrance steps to the hill. Although they are famously connected with this address they lived here only two years. He died in 1870 and Amelia moved out of the house, to Newington Lodge. She placed a bronze bust of his likeness, sculpted by her own hands, on his grave.

The 1891 census describes Hill as "sculptor, retired" but she exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy until 1902, aged 82. She died at her house, Newington Lodge, 38 Mayfield Terrace on 5 July 1904 aged 83. She was buried next to her husband in Dean Cemetery, beneath her own sculpture of 34 years earlier.[3]

Bicentenary

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A walking tour of her Edinburgh works was instigated as 'The Amelia Tour' in her bicentenary year, 2021.[3]

Principal works

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Selected works
 
David Octavius Hill on the couple's grave in Dean Cemetery
 
Sir George Harvey
 
Percy Shelley (Tate Britain)
 
Bust of her brother, Scottish artist Joseph Noel Paton (SNPG)
 
Hugh Miller (SNPG)
 
David Livingstone, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
 
Carving on the Albert Buildings, Shadwick Place, Edinburgh

References

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  1. ^ a b "OPR Birth and Baptism Search Return for children of Joseph Paton and Catherine McDermaid". Scotland's People.
  2. ^ a b Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/47294. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47294. Retrieved 24 September 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b "A Walking Tour of the Sculptures of Amelia Robertson Hill (1821-1904)". The Amelia Trail. 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "The Character Statues".
  5. ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford McWilliam and Walker

Bibliography

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  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Hill, Oxford University Press
  • Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture, 2004
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