Hill Hall, Theydon Mount, Epping

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What is Hill Hall?

Undated vintage photograph of Hill Hall (see British History Online)

George Moore wrote from Hill Hall in Essex, near London, 1910-1921. It was the home of his friends Charles and Mary Hunter starting in 1909 after they moved from Selaby.

John Singer Sargent, The Misses Hunter (1902) (see Tate)

I am searching for biographical details about the Hunters. Mary Hunter was the daughter of military officer John Hall Smyth and the sister of musical prodigy Ethel Smyth. The Smyth surname coincidentally appears in the earlier history of Hill Hall.

Mary was a patron of the arts, especially of John Singer Sargent who painted her portrait and that of her three daughters Kathleen, Phyllis and Sylvia. I have not found a painting or photograph of Charles nor information about him, other than he owned a colliery.

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