In 1976 a remarkable collection of letters, books, artwork and ephemera was given to the college by a Somerville alumna, Audrey Kennet (née Withers, 1924-7) and her sister Monica. The gift was made in honour of their parents Dr Percy and Mrs Mary Withers (née Summers, Somerville, 1889-92), who were at the centre of an illustrious circle of friends including many of… Read More »A rare talent for friendship – Percy Withers
WINIFRED HOLTBY: AN INFORMED VIEW … AND A PRESCIENT ONE?Hugh Gault At the end of May 1929, and after five years of a reforming Conservative government, the first general election at which everybody aged 21 and over could vote had resulted in no clear majority. Nationally, the Labour Party had won 287 seats in parliament against 260 for the Conservatives,… Read More »Winifred Holtby on the first Female MPs
In 1880 The Graphic magazine published this collection of wood-engraved vignettes of what was then the new Somerville Hall. The engravings were taken from drawings by the first Principal Madeleine Shaw Lefevre and her cousin Mrs Nigel Madan Back to Snippets from the Archives
“I didn’t begin to write my speech for the O.S.D.S.* debate until Thursday morning, and I timed it to take exactly two minutes. I was the Proposer and the motion was, ‘That the reluctance of the modern woman to marry is a benefit to Society.’ I wore my white satin with the pink on it and, to my surprise, wasn’t… Read More »February 1914 : Somerville College Before the Outbreak of War
“I realised that I could not have any chance at all” Vera Brittain, ‘March 16th-20th, Somerville College, Oxford’ Chronicle of Youth In March 1914, Vera Brittain visited Somerville to take the College entrance examination. She had applied not just for a place but for a scholarship, despite advice from the Principal, Emily Penrose, not to try for the latter. Her anxiety… Read More »March 1914: Vera Brittain is Awarded an Exhibition
‘He had served the College for twelve and a half years with fidelity and real affection; and it was a pleasure to both Staff and Students to be able to express their appreciation of his faithful service and that of his wife in the form of presents to them for their new house in Ferry Hinksey Road: a clock and… Read More »April 1914: Scroggs Retires
On 9th May 1914, the Polish anthropologist and Somerville student Marya Czaplicka applied for funds for an expedition to Siberia. Marya Czaplicka had arrived in England in 1911 to take the diploma course in anthropology at Somerville. Intelligent and charming, she was a mature student and accomplished scholar. Speaking Russian in addition to Polish and English, she was uniquely placed to… Read More »May 1914: The Launch of Miss Czaplicka’s Siberian Expedition
‘The hall proved ideal for dancing: the floor was all that could be desired.’ Somerville College Log Book, June 1914 Commemoration Week, the week after the end of Trinity Term, is a traditional time for balls in Oxford, and in 1914 Somerville held a Commemoration Dance in its new hall. The JCR sought permission for an end of term dance from… Read More »June 1914: The Commemoration Dance
‘Exactly a fortnight before the world as I had known it crashed into chaos, I went to Leek to take my Oxford Senior.’ Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth. The long vacation in 1914 should have been a time of rest, recuperation and preparation for students and Fellows. Many of the Senior Common Room (SCR) used the vacations to travel and work on… Read More »July 1914: The Uncertainties of the Long Vacation
In 1919, a student called Margaret Bunbury Foote came up to Somerville to read English. Her father was a clergyman and her mother a suffragette and member of the Women’s Social & Political Union. Amongst the papers Margaret Foote was later to leave to Somerville College was the travel diary she had kept during her summer holiday in 1914 when,… Read More »August 1914: “To Germany in 1914”