History of Cumbria conservation. In another move, Rawnsley, Octavia Hill, and Sir Robert Hunter set up the National Trust in 1895 (with a view to acquiring and managing land). In the 2001 UK Census, the county had a population of 487,607 (237,915 males and 249,692 females). Cumbria was one of the least ethnically diverse regions in the country: 99.3% of people classed themselves as being of any 'White' background. Also in 2001, Cumbria saw a devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth which resulted in the killing of 10 million cattle and sheep across the UK; out of 2,000 cases nationwide, 843 were in Cumbria. Cumbria
Octavia Hill Octavia Hill Society at her birthplace. Octavia Hill was the daughter of James Hill, corn merchant, follower of Owenism and banker, and his third wife, Caroline Southwood Smith. He had been widowed twice, and had six children (five daughters and a son) from his previous marriages. He had been impressed by the writings on education of Caroline Southwood Smith, the daughter of Dr Thomas Southwood Smith, a pioneer of sanitary reform. He had engaged Caroline as a governess for his children in 1832, and they were married in 1835, three years before Octavia was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, her father's