The legacy of Old Sir Rowland Hill is huge and broad. Education was seriously important to him; one of his monuments puts the possition like this:
He built and endowed several Free Schools, particularly that of Drayton… He founded exhibitions, and educated many students at both Universities, and supported at the Inns of Court others who were brought up to the Law. He was the unwearied friend of the widow and the fatherless..
– The text originally on the Hawkstone pillar
It is an unfortunate fact that the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge do not generally have records capturing this more clearly. However, at All Souls College, Oxford, we can see his legacy carved in stone and lived by others of his family.
All Souls College Oxford – Hawksmore Quadrangel loking onto the SRC, within a building with two tower-like projections. The Hill arms are just out of shot in the upper left of the image
The lantern above the gate between the Hawksmore Quadrangle and Radcliffe Square, and the Radcliffe Camera, features the following heraldry:
- The Hill dynasty
- The Boyle dynasty
- The Grevil(l)e dynasty
- The Palmer dynasty
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This is not the only bit of central Oxford with connections to the legacy of Old Sir Rowland Hill. John Bodley, the father of the founder of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, obtained exclusive rights from Queen Elizabeth I for the publication of the Geneva Bible in England for seven years.
Bodleian Library 1602 Old School Quadrangle
In this way, some of the fortune that was available for Thomas Bodley to set up this vitally important library stemmed from the publishing activities of Sir Rowland Hill.
Bodleian Library, Oxford; line engraving.
