| Witness | | George Taylor Hill; Hill Property at Cornaroy; Photos; Ida Eleanor Hill, Cynthia Jane Hill, Henrietta Elizabeth Hill, Effie Rebecca Hill, Clayton James Hill, Dutton Thomas Hill, and Frances Matilda Hill2 |
| Education | | Ecole des Beaux-Arts; Studied under Jean-Antonin Injalbert and Henri Michel Chapu and finally with Alexandre Falguiere.3 |
| Witness | Between 1800 and 1930 | Location of monuments done by GWH, Montreal, QB, CN, The locations of Uncle George's work (in Montreal) are, driving from west to east:
1. In front of Montreal West City Hall on Westminster
2. In Westmount Park, the decor on the Westmount Library
3. In front of Westmount City Hall on Sherbrooke St.
4. In Dominion Square (It has probably been renamed) on Peel Street, south of St. Catherine St. Strathcona Horse
5. On Park Avenue, above Pine, in Mount Royal Park, the one you should not miss - the Cartier Monument
6. At Place d'Armes on Notre Dame, the Bank of Montreal Building - decor (I did not know this till Anne told me).4 |
| Birth* | 8 May 1861 | Shipton, PQ, Canada,5,6,7,8 |
| Christning | 17 September 1864 | St. Ann's Church, Richmond, PQ, CN, Frances (Fanny) Hill9,10,7,11,11 |
| Witness | 1871 | Eleanor Carty; Quebec, Canada, Ida Eleanor Hill, Cynthia Jane Hill, Henrietta Elizabeth Hill, Effie Rebecca Hill, Clayton James Hill, and Dutton Thomas Hill12 |
| Witness | 1881 | George Taylor Hill; Quebec, Canada, Eleanor Carty, Ida Eleanor Hill, Cynthia Jane Hill, Henrietta Elizabeth Hill, Effie Rebecca Hill, Clayton James Hill, and Dutton Thomas Hill13 |
| Education* | Circa 1885 | Richmond, Quebec, CN,14 |
| Employment* | 1888 | Advertisement in Commercial Industries of Canada, Richmond, PQ, CN, This business of the worker in marble and granite is a most ancient and honourable one, and held an enviable position in the paliest days of Greece and Rome, and many of the specimens of the handiwork still preserved in the museums are the wonder and admiration of the art world. The sculptors of the present day are worthy successors to those Greeks and Romans, and to their skill and artistic ability are we indebted for the beauty of so many of our cemeteries. Prominent among those engaged in marble and granite sculpture is G. W. Hill, successor to the well known firm of Messrs. G. T. Hill & Son, whose works are located on Main Street, Richmond. This business was established in 1870, and has always proved eminently successful, but never so much as at the present time. The premises occupied by the works are 50 x 40 feet in dimensions, where employment is furnished to three skilled workmen throughout the year. G. W. Hill, original designer and sculptor, manufactures all kinds of monuments, tablets, headstones, and other mural work, and in beauty of design and finish of workmanwhip is not surpassed throughout this section of the country, while the prices charged are extremely reasonable. The trade of the house is quite extensive, and embraces not only Richmond, but a large section of the surrounding country. Mr. G. W. Hill, who is a native of the township of Cleveland, is an active and enterprising business man and skilled workman, and is highly esteemed by all who know him.15 |
| Sculpture* | 1888 | Sculpture of Nellie- age 416 |
| Marriage* | 1895 | Elsie Annette Kent5 |
| Descriptn* | 1900 | Canada; Reputation as one of Canada's foremost sculptors in the first decades of the 20th century is based mainly on his public monuments and war memorials.3 |
| Witness | Between 1900 and 1930 | More on memorials, Canada, Eleanor Venning continues - there are also War Memorials in Sherbrooks, Que. and Charlottetown, P.E.I.
You have already seen the white marble memorial to Canadian Nurses in the Parliament Buildings, Ottawa.
There are numerous statues of historial Canadians and also at least 8 statues of soldiers from World War I, in different towns throughout Quebec and Ontario.17 |
| Witness | Between 1900 and 1930 | Sculpture of G. W. Hill; Lord Strathcona, with his keen insight into human nature, once said of George W. Hill, that he was as great in sculpture as he was modest. Mr. Hill was a mere boy then, although he already had some good work to his credit. His stature in art has increased with the years, while his modesty lasted until death (1934). Kind, courteous to those who go to him seeking light upon his work, the limelight upon himself seemed to interest him but little. Except that his sculptures, widely distributed over Canada, speak for themselves, a writer would have little to say about this man.
He was born in Shipton, Ontario, in 1862, the son of G. T. Hill, a marble worker from whom he probably received the inspiration which set him out on the road to fame. If so, he is not the first sculptor to be so influenced. On that road there were such way-stations as the public school, St. Francis College, and then his father's place of business, where the young man spent some years, saving his money meanwhile to finance his art education abroad.
In 1899, he went to Paris where he studied for five years, first at the Academie Julien, and later at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Like most Canadians who study abroad, however, he returned to his native land to set up his studio, and he worked for the rest of his life in Montreal.
There are few if any museum pieces in Mr. Hill's work. His monuments are sometimes colossal and always impressive and well designed. He is one of our English-speaking sculptors who employ base figures with good effect; or, he uses decorative relief panels about his pedestals, which, under his hand are a decoration indeed. The South African War Memorial in Montreal presents a good example of this.
The competition for this memorial, to the Canadian soldiers who had fallen in the South African war, was won by Mr. Hill, early in his career, with the equestrian which is so widely known today. Upon a high and rather classic pedestal, is the large bronze figure of a rearing horse, held and controlled by the hand of a soldier in uniform. While this is designed especially in honour of the body of cavalry raised by Lord Strathcona (The Strathcona Horse") it is symbolic of the power and confidence, so necessary in keeping the peace of the country.
There is a great deal of work in the simplest war memorial, and not all of it can be done at home. For instance the casting of the bronze figures had to be done abroad then, as now. Mr. Hill went to Paris and opened a studio there. Shortly after his equestrian group had been cast, and before it was removed from the bronze works, the aged and famous sculptor Fremiet called to look at a casting of some of his own work. At the younger sculptor's group he suddenly stopped, exclaiming, "Tres bien! tres bien!" And typical of this encouraging and gracious personality, he left his card for Mr. Hill with a written expression of his admiration upon it.
The monument was unveiled in Montreal in 1907. On the front of the pedestal is an oval plaque in bronze, bearing a relief portrait of Lord Strathcona. Relief panels about the sides depict scenes from the battle field.
One of this sculptor's most famous works is the Memorial to Sir George Etienne Cartier the organizer of the Militia in Canada and our first Minister of Militia, as well as a leading spirit in Confederation. The base of this monument is populous with bronze figures, any one of which is a coment in itself. Bu the designing holds the work together and makes of it a majestic and pleasing whole. From an immense square base rises a tall shaft surmounted by a bronze figure of "Renown" which is itself twenty-one feet high from the base of the globe on which it stands. In front of the shaft is a statue of Cartier; and keeping in mind one of the cief interests of the statesman during his life, the sculptor has placed upon the opposite side of the shaft, and figure of a soldier holding a British flag to his breast. Beneath this, on a ribbon upheld by figures at the monument base, are the words, "THE DEFENSE OF THE FLAG IS ONE OF THE BASES OF CONFEDERATION."
Beneath the figure of Cartier is a base-group representing the four Provinces first to enter the Confederation. On the sides of the base, to the right and left of this, are other groups representing the Legislature and Education to which the Union aspires. On the fourth side, the largest group of all depicts the Sister Provinces of the completed federation.
For this work, the sculptor went to Belgium and set up his studio in the beautiful park known as the Bois de la Cambre on the outskirts of Brussels. Considerable romance surrounds the making of the Cartier monument. Mr. Hill had finished the modelling for it and for a statue of Thomas D'Arcy McGee which he was making at the same time. All of the many figures had been cast in bronze, excepting the Cartier figure, when the war-clouds which had been gathering over Europe, suddently massed themselves about the little country in which he worked. The sculptor tried to hurry the completion in order to leave the place, and with the whole-hearted co-operation of the bronze company, the Cartier figure was finished just the day before the storm broke. The director, before hastily leaving for the battle-front, gave a final order that the work was to be packed and sent to Antwerp and he himself engaged its shiping. But the declaration of was so interfered with shipping that in spite of the order, poor "Cartier" was left stranded in Brussels, while the monument he was to decorate, and the sculptor, were somewhere else. But Cartier was not alone in the predicament, McGee was there too, to keep him company. The continued delay in shipping prevented the unveiling of the Memorial on the hundreth anniversary of Cartier's birthday. It was postponed until the following year.
After the conslusion of the great War, Mr. Hill received many commissions for memorials. Of these, one is in Charlottetown, P.E.I.; onein Westmount, Montreal; three others are in the Province of Quebec, in Sherbrooke, Magog and Lachute. There are three in Ontario, one in Morrisburg, one at the Harbor Collegiate Institute, Toronto, and the other is the Nurses' Memorial in the Hall of Fame, Ottawa.
The Nurses' Memorial, one of the most famous of the Hill sculptures, is in the form of a relief panel in marble, above which is a screen of pierced stone. Mr. Hill took the model to Italy expecting to obtain the marble for it from a historic quarry which has been in use since ancient Roman times. But no block of the required size and quality could be found there. However, at another quarry, then unknown to him, he procured a block of flawless white marble, nine feet by eight and a half and six inches thick.
This decorative panel, financed by the Canadian Association of Trained Nurses, depicts the history of nursing in Canada from its beginning. In the background is a figure of "History" holding a Book of Records, 1639--918. On the right, are shown the French Sisters who first came to an uncilized Canada; and on the left a soldier of the recent Great War is receiving aid from nurses in the service uniform. The central figure in the foreground, represents "Humanity." With arms outspread, she dominates and unifies the group. She holds as a sceptre the caduceus. It is a fitting symbol in a work of this kind.
Among the other works of this sculptor, are the South African War Memorial in London, Ontario, the Harold Fisher Monument in Ottawa, the monument to Hon. George Brown, and a bust of the poet Drummond for the Carnegie Institute.18 |
| Sculptures* | 1900 | Sculpture of The Pioneer, QB, CN,19,20 |
| Witness | 1904 | George Taylor Hill; Family Photo; Clayton James Hill, Haddon William Lyster, Elsie Annette Kent, Ida Eleanor Hill, Henrietta Elizabeth Hill, Sarah Ann Armstrong, Isabel Hill, Elizabeth Carty, Cynthia Carty, Eleanor Carty, Effie Musgrove, George Rowland Kent Hill, Gordon Hill Towne, John B. Towne, Frances Matilda Hill, Bessie Marjorie Hastings, Stanley Clayton Hill, Muriel Dennison, Eleanor Marguerite Hill, Howard Pevear Hill, Cynthia Jane Hill, and Effie Rebecca Hill21 |
| Witness | 1907 | Strathcona Horse monument unveiled in Dominion Square, Montreal, QB, CN, The monument was dedicated to the memory of Canadian soldiers who died in the South African War of 1899 (Boer War). Situated in Dominion Square, Montreal (center of city).17 |
| Witness | 1 August 1907 | Hill Banquet - St. Jacob's Hotel, Richmond, PQ, CN,22 |
| Event-Misc* | Between 1912 and 1914 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Worked for the Maxwell brothers, commissioned as one of the best architectural decorator, artists, and craftsman in Canada.3 |
| Witness | Circa 1921 | Westmount War I memorial, Sherbrook St. in front of Westmount City Hall, Montreal, PQ, CN,23 |
| Witness | Circa 1922 | Monument to George Etienne Cartier, Montreal Mountain in the Mount Royal Park, Park Ave., PQ, CN, Monument to George Etienne Cartier one of the fathers of Canadian Federation (from Quebec). this is the most important - has 18 figures - and stands at the foot of Montreal Mountain in the Mount Royal Park, Park Ave., Montreal.17 |
| Witness | Circa 1931 | Ida Eleanor Hill; Sibling Photo; Henrietta Elizabeth Hill and Clayton James Hill24 |
| Death* | 17 July 1934 | Montreal, PQ, CN,5,25,7,8 |
| Witness | 3 June 1967 | Unveiling of Cairn & Plaque in Memory & Honour of George William Hill, M>R>C>A, Richmond, Richmond, QB, Canada, Eleanor Marguerite Hill26 |
| Misc* | 11 November 2005 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada,27 |