222
��NOTES BY THE WAT:.
��Rowland Hill.
��Matthew
Davenport
Hill.
Edwin Hill.
��Arthur and Frederic Hill.
��Rowland Hill
lives to see
his work
accomplished
��In addition to the outside help I have already mentioned, which was highly appreciated by Rowland Hill, as shown in the memoir of him by his nephew, he was cordially supported by all the members of his family, who were proud of Rowland and his scheme. There was no jealously ; each worked in harmony. The brothers looked at all times to each other for counsel ; it was a perfect home, with the good old father as its head. Truly have his words been verified, " The union of my children has proved their strength." All the brothers rendered good public service, and were so inti- mately associated that their lives throw much light on that of Rowland. The eldest, Matthew Davenport Hill (1792-1872), was the first man from Birmingham who went to the Bar, and on the erection of his native town into a municipal corporation, he was appointed Recorder. Edwin (1793-1876), the second son, was, on the introduction of Penny Postage, appointed super- visor of stamps at Somerset House and until his retirement in 1872 had under his control their manufacture. By his inventive mechanical skill he greatly improved the machinery. My father frequently had occasion to see him, and always found him ready to consider any suggestion. Especially was this the case when my father obtained permission for a stamp to be made with the sender's name round the rim. This was designed for him by Edwin Hill. His niece Constance relates how he invented " wind-proof doors " for the sake of a rheumatic porter at the Wellington Street entrance ; and his ingenuity in invention made his bedroom at Somerset House a perfect museum of curiosities. " If at night the blankets pressed upon him too heavily, he could, as he lay, pull a string with a sort of claw at the end, which grasped the bed-clothes and relieved him of their weight " (' Frederic Hill, an Autobiography,' p. 325).
Rowland was the third son, and was born in 1795. Arthur, the fourth son (1798-1885), became head master of Bruce Castle School. Frederic, the youngest son (1803-96), was the first Inspector of Prisons appointed under the Act of 1835, and brought about great reforms ; but his brother wanting help at the Post Office, Frederic was appointed in 1851 assistant secretary, and was able to effect many economies. He drew up a plan for life insurance, encouraged in every direction the employment of female labour, and his brother Rowland testifies in his autobiography to Frederic's great zeal. These brief notes just give a glance at " the league of brothers." Never did a family so unite in working for the common good.
It is matter for congratulation that Rowland Hill had the advantage over many other pioneers of seeing his great work accomplished. He lived until the 27th of August, 1879, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, leaving the record for all time that he was one of the greatest benefactors of the nineteenth century.
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