Rosamond Davenport Hill was born on 4 August 1825 in Chelsea in London. Her parents were Matthew Davenport Hill and Margaret Bucknall. In 1826, the family moved to Chancery Lane then in 1831, they moved to Hampstead Heath. The children were Alfred Hill born in 1821, Florence Davenport Hill who was also born in Chelsea in 1828, Matthew Berkeley Hill and Joanna Margaret Hill who was born in Hampstead in 1836/7.