Alsager Hay Hill

Alsager Hay Hill (1 October 1839 – 2 August 1906) was an English social reformer active during the late 19th century, influential on poor law reform and employment issues. He founded one of the first labour exchanges and a newspaper, Labour News that is still published today, albeit under a new title: Construction News.

Hill was born at Gressenhall Hall in Norfolk, the second son in a family of five sons and six daughters of John David Hay Hill, lord of the manor of Gressenhall, and Margaret (second daughter of the hop merchant and former MP for Cashel, Ebenezer John Collett).

Hill was educated at Brighton College (1850–54) and at Cheltenham College (1854–57). In 1857 he obtained an exhibition at Caius College, Cambridge, migrating as scholar to Trinity Hall, where he graduated LLB in 1862. Becoming a student of the Inner Temple in October 1860, he was called to the bar in January 1864.

He joined the south-eastern circuit, but soon devoted his energies to journalism and to literature, interesting himself especially in poor law and labour questions, and working as almoner to the Society for the Relief of Distress in the East of London. In letters to the press during 1868 Hill called attention to weaknesses in the poor laws, and urged a more scientific classification of paupers (The Times, 9 January 1868). His pamphlet on Our Unemployed, prepared for the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, and published in 1867, was one of the first to call public attention to the problem of unemployment, and to suggest a national system of labour registration.

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