Editing National Trust (section)

===Founders===
[[File:Octavia-Hill-by-Sargent.jpg|thumb|upright|Octavia Hill by [[John Singer Sargent]], 1898]]
The Trust was incorporated on 12 January 1895 as the '''National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty''', which is still the organisation's legal name. The founders were social reformer [[Octavia Hill]], solicitor Sir [[Robert Hunter (civil servant)|Robert Hunter]] and clergyman [[Hardwicke Rawnsley]].

In 1876, Hill, together with her sister [[Miranda Hill]], had set up a society to "diffuse a love of beautiful things among our poor brethren". Named after [[John Kyrle]], the Kyrle Society campaigned for open spaces for the recreational use of urban dwellers, as well as having decorative, musical, and literary branches.<ref>{{Cite journal |journal = Civitas Review| last1 = Whelan | first1 = Robert | title = Octavia Hill and the environmental movement | url = http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/CivitasReviewApril2009.pdf | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | date = April 2009 | pages = 1–8 | access-date = 18 November 2019}}</ref> Hunter had been solicitor to the [[Open Spaces Society|Commons Preservation Society]], while Rawnsley had campaigned for the protection of the [[Lake District]]. The idea of a company with the power to acquire and hold buildings and land had been mooted by Hunter in 1894.<ref name=Acorn>{{cite book |first1=Jennifer | last1=Jenkins |first2=Patrick |last2=James |title=From acorn to oak tree: the growth of the National Trust 1895–1994 |date=1994 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London}}</ref>{{rp|1–23}}

In July 1894 a provisional council, headed by Hill, Hunter, Rawnsley and [[Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster]] met at [[Grosvenor House]] and decided that the company should be named the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. [[Articles of association]] were submitted to the [[Board of Trade]] and on 12 January 1895, the Trust was registered under the [[Companies Act 1862|Companies Act]]. Its purpose was to "promote the permanent preservation for the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest".{{r|Acorn|p=24–25}}