Amelia Robertson Hill
Other names: née Paton, Mrs David Octavius Hill
Born 15 January 1820
Died 5 July 1904
Active: 1860 - 1902
Country of birth and death: Scotland
Sculptor, medallists, wax modeller
Born Wooer’s Alley, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Amelia was the daughter of Joseph Neil Paton (1797–1874), a damask designer and her brothers were the painters, Sir (Joseph) Noel Paton (1821-1901) and Waller Hugh Paton (1828-95).
Amelia started her career as a painter. It is not known where she studied sculpture but it may have been with William Brodie (1815–81). Amelia's professional career took off shortly before before her marriage to the painter and photographic pioneer, David Octavius Hill (1802–1870). Their marriage was happy, it also benefited their careers. Amelia exhibited eighteen busts at the Royal Academy in London which helped extend her husband's reputation. David's role as secretary to the Royal Scottish Academy may have assisted Amelia in securing public commissions.
Over the next two decades, Amelia's career flourished. She created busts of numerous public figures and her portrayals of historical and literary figures, such as Robert Burns and Percy Bysshe Shelley, were highly regarded. From the mid-1880s Hill exhibited infrequently, however she continued in practice until shortly before her death at Newington Lodge, 38 Mayfield Terrace, Edinburgh in 1904.
Wealth at death: £541 0s. 0d.
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
The late Richard Cobden, Esq., MP
1867
Miss Jessie Miller, daughter of John Miller, Esq., CE, of Leithen and Drumlithie
1863
Bust of a lady
1863
Diarmid, son of J. Noel Paton, Esq., RSA
1863
Sir Galahad, the Good Knight
1863
Elaine, the Lily Maid of Astolat...Tennyson
1864
Mrs S. S. Laurie
1864
Rev. Dr Candlish, Principal of the New College
1864
C. H. D.
1864
In memoriam - the Hon. Charles Bruce, 3rd son of the late Earl of Elgin
1864
The Very Rev. R. S. Candlish, DD, of Free St Georges's & Principal of the New College, Edinburgh
1865
The Rev. Horatius Bonar, DD, of Kelso
1865
A child
1865
Mrs A. Burns Shand
1865
Henry Ashworth, Esq., of the Oaks, Bolton
1865
The late James Hay Erskine Wemyss, Esq., of Wemyss, MP, Lord Lieut of the County of Fife
1865
Elaine
1866
Dr Livingstone, the African traveller
1866
Bust of Sir Roderick J. Merchison, Bt, KCB, PRGS, FRS, DCL, LLD etc
1866
Master Dairmid Noel Paton when two years old
1866
Bust of Robert Napier, Esq., of Shandon
1866
Bust of Sir Edward Cazalet, Esq., of St Petersburg
1866
The Rev. John Bruce, DD, of Free St Andrews Church
1866
The Wee Howlett
1866
David Octavius Hill, RSA, Secretary of the RSA
1867
Edward Cazalet, Esq., of St Petersburg
1867
Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Rector of Edinburgh University
1867
Dr Livingstone, the African Explorer and Missionary
1868
Sir Roderick A. Marchison, Bart, President of the Royal Geographical Society
1868
Robert Napier, of Shandon
1868
Mrs Burns Shand
1868
The daughter of the chief
1868
John Edward Baxter, Esq., Craigtay, Dundee
1868
Sir George Harvey, President of the RSA
1868
Model for a Colossal Statue of Dr Livingstone
1869
Dr Livingstone
1869
Frederick Hope Pattison, Esq., late of the Duke of Wellington's Own Regiment
1869
Mrs A. Gilroy
1869
The late Mr Hugh Miller, author of 'The Old Red Sandstone'
1869
Dr Livingstone, explorer of Africa, pioneer of civilization and Christian missionary
1869
Pet Marjory
1870
Burns
1870
Bust of a gentleman
1870
Bust of a lady
1870
Little Martha
1870
D. O. Hill, Esq., RSA, late Secretary of the RSA
1870
Aziola or 'The Wee Howlet'
1871
Robert Burns
1872
S. Harwood, Esq.
1872
Sir Noel Paton, RSA
1872
Sir James J. Y. Simpson, Bart
1872
Wee Davock
1872
Highland Mary
1873
Robert Burns from a cast of his skull and the picture by Alex Nasmyth
1873
Dr Robert Chambers
1873
Portrait
1873
Magnus Troil - 'The old Updaller of the pirate'
1874
Captain Cook, the great circumnavigator
1874
Minna Troil
1874
Richard Coeur de Lion - Authority, his tomb at Fontevraud
1874
Sir Noel Paton, RSA, her Majesty's Limner for Scotland
1875
Model Bust of Sir Noel Paton
1875
Plaster Bust of Sir George Harvey
1875
Model for Statue in the Scott Monument - Minna Troil
1875
Model for Statue in the Scott Monument - Richard Coeur de Lion
1875
Exhibited Regent Murray Memorial, erected at Linlithgow in 1875 at the spot where he met his death
1876
Posthumous marble bust of a lady
1876
Richard Irven, Esq., New York
1876
Portrait bust
1879
Portrait bust
1882
Shelley
1882
Locations
Address 33 George Square Edinburgh | View on map
1861
Address Calton Stairs Edinburgh | View on map
1863 - 1868
Address Rock House Calton Hill Edinburgh | View on map
1868 - 1870
Address Newington Lodge Mayfield Terrace Edinburgh | View on map
1870 (Circa) - 1904 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1868
Multiple works
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1869
Multiple works
Exhibited at National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds, 1868
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Works of Deceased and Living Scottish Artists, 1863
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of Works of Deceased and Living Scottish Artists, 1880
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Thirty-Eighth, 1864
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Thirty-Ninth, 1865
'A child'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Fortieth, 1866
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-First, 1867
'David Octavius Hill RSA, Secretary of the RSA'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Third, 1869
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Fourth, 1870
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Sixth, 1872
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Seventh, 1873
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Eighth, 1874
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Ninth, 1875
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Fiftieth, 1876
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Fifty-First, 1877
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Fifty-Third, 1879
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Fifty-Fifth, 1881
'Mrs Carnegie, New York'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Fifty-Sixth, 1882
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Seventy-Sixth, 1902
'Sir Noel Paton, RSA, her Majesty's Limner for Scotland'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundredth - Centenary Exhibition, 1926
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Second, 1868
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninetieth, 1916
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Thirty-Seventh, 1863
Multiple works
Exhibited at Fourteenth Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1875
'Model Bust of Sir Noel Paton'
Exhibited at International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures, Dublin, 1865
p. 112, no. 222. 'Sir Galahad' - Marble.
Offered for sale 120-0-0.
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Forty-Fifth, 1871
'Aziola or "The Wee Howlet"'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, 1861-1951
1861
Exhibited once, one work
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1863 - 1874
Exhibited 9 times, average 2 works per year.
Personal and Professional Connections
Made bust of David Octavius Hill
1867 (Circa)
Wife/husband/spouse of David Octavius Hill
18 November 1862
David Octavius Hill's second marriage
Sources
Catalogue of the National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds 1868
1868
Cat. No. 627e, 627f, p. 205
Official Catalogue of Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures 1865
1865
p. 112, no. 222. 'Sir Galahad' - Marble.
Offered for sale 120-0-0.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Patricia de Montfort, ‘Hill [Paton], Amelia Robertson (1820–1904)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47294, accessed 13 April 2009]
Citing this record
'Amelia Robertson Hill', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1212488607, accessed 02 Apr 2023]
