Emily Davies, Girton College 1880 by R Lehmann

Girton College

History of Girton College

General information on Girton College can be found on Wikipedia.

A particular attraction is the Lawrence Room. It is a museum set up in 1934 in memory of Amy Lawrence, a natural scientist.

Girton College’s own website contains a description of the collection in the room:

https://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/girton-today/art-and-artefacts/girtons-museum-collection

Emily Davies: campaigner for women’s rights to university access. Co-founder of Girton College.

Helen Maud Cam, 1885-1968, historian: see ‘Cambridge Women – Twelve Portraits’ chapter 4, Janet Sondheimer, 1996.

Eileen Power, 1889-1940, historian: see ‘Cambridge Women – Twelve Portraits’ chapter 7, Maxine Berg, 1996.

Sarojini Naidu née Chattopadhyaya, 1879 – 1949, politician

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1876

A small block known as the Taylor Knob was built with a bequest by Thomas Taylor and his wife in memory of their daughter, Miss E H Taylor. Some time after this some students claimed to have seen an apparition in the form of a grey lady. (Cambridge College Ghosts by Geoff Yeats)

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1881

A large number of Saxon burials were found during preparatory work for a new lawn. There were also some Roman remains. A student strolling in the grounds at the time of the excavations reported seeing a figure resembling a Roman centurion (Cambridge College Ghosts by Geoff Yeats)

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WWI: Girtonians and the World Wars, 2009, provvides a detailed analysis of the roles that their students played in wartime as well as a description of conditions in the college. Page 23 gives some examples:

Dr Lilian Chesney worked in Serbia

Miss V E Vernon was matron of a hospital in Etaples

Miss A M Percival was in the Scottish Women’s hospital fitted out by Girton and Newnham in the Balkans

Miss G L Buckley was an X-ray operator in France

Miss F M Durham was an assistant pathologist at the new Zealand Second General Hospital, Walton on Thames

Miss M Clover, Sec. to the College,  was Superintendent of Special Service Red Cross Workers in the Cambridge Military Hospital

Miss Dufton was awarded a scholarship to research pneumonia cased by gas poisoning

Miss Meyer and Miss Cave ere engaged in the computation of the ranges of guns.

Miss Thomas experimented in anti-gas respirators.

Miss Hepburn was organizing secretary for the Devon-wide Food Production department

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1931

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WWII: Girtonians and the World Wars, 2009, provvides a detailed analysis of the roles that their students played in wartime as well as a description of conditions in the college. This provides a number of short wartime autobiographies:

Helen G Q Rowett – teaching

Pauline Sharpson née Bryant – Air Ministry then Ministry of Fuel and Power

Joyce Westwood née Murrant – German teacher in London

Jill Allen née E W Browne – censor

Joy Blackaby – teaching

Margaret Woodley – factory work making components for Wellington bombers

K M D – Bletchley Park

Joy Storrs Fox née Hollings – ATS

Elspeth Horne née Macalister – WAAF photographic interpretation

Ruth Osborn née Lenton

Clare Neville Smith – clinical training West London Hospital

Florence Morris née Mitchell – Admiralty Mining Dept.

Margaret Golding née Phillips

Gillian Poulton née Hunt

Mavis von Proschwitz née Genge

Pamela Churchill née Harwood

Monica Cundall née Pritchard

Inge Goodwin née Simon – vaccine manufacture

Eveline Newgas née Blumka

Audrey M W Sinnhuber née Daubercies – Map Division of the American OSS

Phyllis Smart

Dorothy Thompson née Towers – industrial draughtsman

Ruth Cranfield née Bole

Margaret Deane née Hunt

Zahra Freeth née Dickson

Pat Harris née Siddons-Wilson

Celia Midgley née Pelmear

Joan Rees née Cushen

Barbara Wrigley née Adams

Vera Easton née Elliott

Rosemary Crofts née Crofts

Alison Brodribb née Gordon Mackay – Pinewood Film Studios

Adeline O M Clark née Cook

Daphne G Medley née Padfield

Janet Mothersill née Brock

Ina Marica née Boeglin – Marshall Aid Agency

Florence Trefethen née Newman – US Navy

Sheelagh Warren

Helen Wright née Buxton – served in FANY