Guelph has been the birthplace or sometime-home of many women who have made great accomplishments in a wide variety of fields. Some, like film star Neve Campbell and fashion designer Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, achieved celebrity status.

Others are not as well known, though they are certainly deserving of recognition. One was Esther Marjorie Hill. Perhaps her chosen profession in architecture was not as glamorous as that of a Hollywood star or an internationally acclaimed designer of clothing for the rich and famous, but she made her mark in a domain that in her day was considered closed to women.

Marjorie (the name she preferred) was born in Guelph on May 29, 1895, the only child of Ethelbert Lincoln Hill and his wife Jennie (nee Stork). They resided on Glasgow Street., but later moved to Sydenham Street.

Marjorie was born into an academic environment. Both her parents were teachers. Ethelbert was the “science master” at the Guelph Collegiate Institute. Jennie was a trail blazer in women’s education. She had been one of the nine female students who attended the University of Toronto in 1884, the first year that institution had allowed women to enrol. She taught mathematics at Moulton Ladies College in Toronto before moving to Guelph.

Marjorie first attended school in Guelph, but then in 1907 the family moved to Calgary when Ethelbert accepted a position as science master at a high school there. During the few years the Hill family resided in Calgary, Ethelbert helped establish a public library. That earned him a position as chief librarian of the Edmonton Public Library.

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