[1] She began to act as a child, in about 1861, in roles such as Mamilius in A Winter's Tale and Arthur in The Life and Death of King John, in the company of Samuel Phelps at Sadler's Wells Theatre.

These included roles in The Favourite of Fortune (1866), Mary Warner (1869), New Men and Old Acres (1869; with Madge Kendal),[8] The Palace of Truth (1870; as Mirza) and Pygmalion and Galatea (1871; as Cynisca), the last two by W. S. Gilbert.

[1][10] Advertisements appeared in December 1871 and January 1872 offering lessons by her for pupils wishing to prepare for the stage at her address in Notting Hill.

[11][12] In 1874 Hill performed for charity with the Canterbury Old Stagers, an amateur group, at Colchester Theatre, Tom Taylor's comedy Nine Points of the Law.

[13] She performed at the Mirror Theatre in 1875, described as "lively and picquant in a character well suited to her powers" in Self by John Oxenford and Horace Wigan.

[19] At the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, Hill played Lilian Herries in April 1878, when she was described as one of the most charming actresses on the English stage.

[9] In 1881 she was in the cast of Youth at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,[24] where in 1882 she appeared in Pluck, by Henry Pettitt and Augustus Harris, as Florence Templeton.

[25] In March 1882 Hill appeared as Bess with her future husband Herbert Kelcey as Harold Armytage in George Robert Sims's The Lights o' London at Theatre Royal, South Shields.

[26] They both appeared in Pettit and George Conquest's play Queen's Evidence at the Pavilion Theatre in July 1882, as Gilbert and Kate Medland.

"[31] In October 1890 Hill was at the Standard Theatre, New York, in Reckless Temple, by Augustus Thomas, as Mrs Billingsley, where her performance was described as "something of a disappointment".