George Heywood Hill
George Heywood Hill | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1906-07-29 Chelsea, London, England |
| Died | 1986 |
| Occupation | Bookseller |
| Years active | 1936–1965 |
| Known for | Founder of Heywood Hill bookshop |
George Heywood Hill (29 July 1906 – 1986) was a prominent British bookseller who founded the Mayfair-based bookshop Heywood Hill in 1936.
Early life
Hill was born in Chelsea, London, to Major George Bernard Hill OBE, a stockbroker, and Frances Grace Johnstone, whose father was MP John Heywood Johnstone of Bignor Park, Sussex. The family maintained residences at 37 Draycott Place in Chelsea and Great Orchard in Bignor, Pulborough, Sussex. He had one sister named Sheila Grace Hill.
Career
The Heywood Hill bookshop was launched on 2 August 1936 by Hill, with assistance from Lady Anne Gathorne-Hardy, who would later become his spouse. They sold the enterprise in 1965 and subsequently retired to Snape Priory, the childhood residence of Lady Anne, where they cared for her mother until her passing in 1969. After Hill’s death in 1986, following a prolonged battle with Parkinson's disease, their daughter Harriet and son-in-law Simon Frazer joined Lady Anne at Snape Priory.
Personal life
In 1938, Hill wed Lady Anne Catherine Dorothy Gathorne-Hardy (1911–2006), daughter of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook. The couple resided initially in Warwick Avenue, Maida Vale, and later moved to Richmond. They had two daughters named Harriet and Rabea.
Harriet married artist Timothy Behrens in 1963; together they had two sons and a daughter. She subsequently married Simon Frazer.
Death and legacy
Hill passed away in 1986 after enduring several years with Parkinson's disease. To commemorate its 80th anniversary at the original location in 2016, Heywood Hill introduced the "Library of a Lifetime Award," which grants recipients a carefully selected hardback book each month for life, shipped internationally.