HILL, Octavia.

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Autograph letter signed, to Thomas Hughes. The social reformer Octavia Hill writes to the politician Thomas Hughes (1822-1896) suggesting he visit her Working Men's Club in Barrett's Court and encourage the members to take an interest in current affairs "as one of themselves, & win their hearts & interest". Hill had recently canvassed for Hughes's ultimately unsuccessful bid to become MP for Marylebone. The letter is apparently unpublished.A believer in self-reliance and an opponent of municipal housing, Hill (1838-1912) developed charitable schemes to provide housing for the poor. Her ethos as a landlord involved befriending and coaching her tenants. She viewed her financial interest in the properties as necessarily intertwined with caring for their inhabitants; she and her team of female housing managers collected rent in person to get to know the tenants. A shrewd businesswoman who did not tolerate rent arrears, she owned 15 housing schemes with approximately 3,000 tenants by 1874.Her developments included tenants' associations and social clubs. Barrett's Court, founded in 1872, was Hill's largest project at the time. Its Working Men's Club was originally open one night a week and attracted only a dozen members, but by 1873 it had nearly 60 members and a new residence with a reading room, concerts, and savings bank. It expanded in June 1874 to a new building with almost 100 members. The club enjoyed a vibrant social calendar; in this letter Hill invites Hughes to a concert

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