Early Life
Hilary was born on 18th May 1915 in West Sussex, the third of four daughters of Beatrice (née Freeman) and Anderson Stebbing.
Her artistic talent was obvious from an early age, as witnessed by her sketch books and prizes won at school. She was not at all academic, leaving school just before her 17th birthday.
In January 1932 her mother noted that: "She won't be seventeen till May and seems such a baby, but if she is going to take up drawing I can't see there is much point in keeping her on... She didn't pass her School Certificate last term...She got three distinctions in drawing, the highest you could get."
She attended Westminster School of Art from 1932 to 1937, initially attending part-time classes because she was so young.
She made one of her first sales in April 1935 when Medici paid her one guinea for the copyright of a lino cut.
Clifford Webb was one of Hilary’s teachers and he encouraged her to exhibit her work.
He also suggested swapping prints: she was delighted to acquire Webb’s Iwood Farm in exchange for her Horses.
From 1937 Hilary attended the Central School of Art where she studied book illustration, wood-engraving and lithography.