Newnham College, Cambridge facts for kids

Quick facts for kids

Newnham College

Dining hall in March 2014

Arms of Newnham College
Blazon: Argent, on a chevron azure between in chief two crosses botonny fitchy and in base a mullet sable, a griffin's head erased Or between two mascles of the field

University

University of Cambridge

Location

Sidgwick Avenue (map)

Abbreviation

Founders

Anne Clough
Marion Kennedy
Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick
Henry Sidgwick et al.

Established

1871

Named after

Newnham village

Gender

Women

Sister college

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Principal

Alison Rose

Undergraduates

422 (2022–23)

Postgraduates

300 (2022–23)

Map

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Newnham College is a college at the University of Cambridge just for women.

It was started in 1871 by people who wanted to offer university-level lessons to women. Among the founders were the philosopher Henry Sidgwick and the activist Millicent Garrett Fawcett. Newnham was the second college for women at Cambridge, after Girton College. The college celebrated its 150th birthday in 2021 and 2022.

The Story of Newnham College
- Becoming an Official College
Women at Cambridge University
- Fighting for Full Recognition
- Changes Over Time
College Symbols: The Arms
Life at Newnham College
- Student Life and Activities
Leaders of Newnham College
Famous People from Newnham
Newnham in Books and Movies
Images for kids
See also

The Story of Newnham College

The idea for Newnham College began in 1869 with a group called the Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women in Cambridge. Henry Sidgwick, a professor at Trinity, played a big part in helping women get into Cambridge University.

Lessons for ladies had started in Cambridge in 1869. Many women wanted to attend but lived too far away to travel daily. So, in 1871, Henry Sidgwick rented a house at 74 Regent Street. Five female students lived there so they could attend the lectures. He asked Anne Clough, who used to run a school, to look after the house.

In 1872, Anne Clough moved the students to a bigger place called Merton House. Demand for women's education kept growing. Supporters of the college formed a company to raise money and build more facilities. In 1875, the first special building for Newnham College was built on Sidgwick Avenue, where the college is still located today.

In 1876, Henry Sidgwick married Eleanor Mildred Balfour. She also supported women's education. They lived at Newnham for some time in the 1880s and 1890s.

Becoming an Official College

Newnham College officially began in 1880 when the Association and the Company joined together. From 1881, women were allowed to take university exams. Their results were listed separately from the men's.

More students wanted to join, so the Newnham Hall Company kept building. They added three more halls, a science lab, and a library before the First World War. The architect Basil Champneys designed these buildings in a beautiful style called Queen Anne style.

In the mid-1800s, many young women in England did not have access to good secondary schools. This meant they couldn't go straight into university courses like young men. Newnham's founders allowed students to learn at their own pace. Some students, with extra preparation, went on to study for degrees.

As girls' secondary schools started opening, often taught by women from Cambridge, Oxford, and London colleges, things began to change. In 1890, a Newnham student named Philippa Fawcett scored higher than the top male student in the Mathematical Tripos exam. By the First World War, most Newnham students went straight into degree-level courses.

A new Pfeiffer Building was built in 1893. This was thanks to a large gift of £5,000 from the poet Emily Jane Pfeiffer.

Newnham had different ideas about studies compared to Girton, the other women's college. Girton's founder, Emily Davies, believed women should do the exact same courses as men. This meant Girton had fewer students at first. But Newnham believed in changing some of the courses Cambridge offered to men too.

Finally, in 1948, Newnham and Girton became full colleges of the university. This meant they had the same status as the men's colleges.

Women at Cambridge University

At first, Cambridge University didn't officially recognize women students. Women had to ask each professor individually if they could take their exams. In 1868, Cambridge's exam board allowed women to take non-university exams for the first time.

After Girton (1869) and Newnham (1871) were founded, women were allowed into lectures. But it was up to each lecturer. By 1881, women could generally take university exams.

Fighting for Full Recognition

Women tried to get full university degrees and rights in 1887, but they were turned down. They tried again in 1897, but this attempt failed even more dramatically. Male students protested against women and caused a lot of damage in the town square.

The First World War caused financial problems for the men's colleges. Cambridge and Oxford both needed money from the government. During this time, women tried again to gain full inclusion. They wanted not only degree titles but also the right to vote and be involved in university decisions. Oxford University granted this to women in 1920.

However, in Cambridge, women were defeated again in 1921. They received the degree titles, but not the full rights that came with them. Male students celebrated this victory by using a cart to smash the bronze gates at Newnham. These gates were a memorial to Anne Clough.

For many years, women were stuck on the edge of the university. They could hold university jobs, but they couldn't speak or vote in their own departments or in the university as a whole. Finally, in 1948, women were allowed to become full members of the university. However, the university could still limit how many women could join.

Changes Over Time

After the Second World War, universities grew. In 1954, a third women's college, New Hall (now Murray Edwards College), was founded. In 1965, Darwin College became the first college to accept both men and women.

In the 1970s, three men's colleges (Churchill, Clare, and King's) started admitting women. Slowly, Cambridge stopped being a university mostly for men. Now, Cambridge has no colleges just for men, and Girton College also accepts both genders.

Newnham and Murray Edwards colleges still only accept women students. Lucy Cavendish College started admitting men in 2021. Cambridge is now the only university in the UK where some colleges only accept one gender.

College Symbols: The Arms

The college's official symbol, called its "arms," was granted in 1923. It was designed to include parts from the symbols of the people who helped start the college.

The chevron shape and its color, along with the diamond shapes, come from the family symbol of Anne Clough, the first Principal.
The crosses come from Marion Kennedy's family symbol.
The star comes from Eleanor Mildred Balfour's family symbol.
The griffin's head comes from Henry Sidgwick's family symbol.

The college's arms combine these elements to show its history and founders. No helmet or crest was added because it was thought to be unsuitable for a college made up entirely of women.

Life at Newnham College

Pfeiffer Arch – the main entrance to the college before the Porters' Lodge moved to Sidgwick Avenue

The Old Labs, now a performance space

The architect Basil Champneys designed a very long indoor corridor at Newnham. People joked it was the second-longest in Europe. This was so students wouldn't have to go outside in the rain! The old laboratory building, near the sports field, is now a place for cultural events. It hosts plays, music concerts, and art shows.

Newnham has a formal dining hall and a modern "buttery" where students can eat and relax. The college also has the Yates Thompson Library, built in 1897. This library was very important because women were not allowed into the main University Library for a long time.

The Yates Thompson Library was built with a gift from Henry Yates Thompson and his wife, Elizabeth. It is still one of the biggest college libraries in Cambridge. It has about 100,000 books, including many rare ones.

Student Life and Activities

The college has two official student groups. Undergraduates (students working on their first degree) are part of the Junior Combination Room (JCR). Graduate students (those studying for advanced degrees) are part of the Middle Combination Room (MCR). These groups look after student interests and organize social events.

Newnham has many clubs and societies. These include teams for rowing, football, netball, and tennis. There are also several choirs. Newnham does not have its own chapel because it is not linked to a specific religion. Students who sing in choirs often join Selwyn College's chapel choir. The Newnham College Boat Club was the first rowing club for women at the university.

Leaders of Newnham College

Anne Jemima Clough (1871–1892)
Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (1892–1910)
Katharine Stephen (1911–1920)
Blanche Athena Clough (1920–1923)
Pernel Strachey (1923–1941)
Myra Curtis (1942–1954)
Ruth Louisa Cohen (1954–1972)
Jean Floud (1973–1982)
Sheila Jeanne Browne (1983–1992)
Onora O'Neill (1992–2006)
Patricia Hodgson (2006–2012)
Carol M. Black (2012 – July 2019)
Alison Rose (October 2019–present)

Famous People from Newnham

Many amazing women have studied at Newnham College. Here are a few:

Dame Emma Thompson, actress, writer
Dame Jane Goodall, primatologist
Patricia Hewitt, former government minister
Diane Abbott, Member of Parliament
Clare Balding, television presenter

Some other notable alumni include:

Mary Beard, a famous expert on ancient history.
Eleanor Bron, an actress.
Antonia Byatt, a well-known writer.
Rosalind Franklin, a physical chemist who helped discover the structure of DNA.
Dorothy Hodgkin, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Miriam Margolyes, an actress.
Iris Murdoch, a writer and philosopher.
Sylvia Plath, a writer who won the Pulitzer Prize.
Anna Watkins, an Olympic Gold Medallist in rowing.

Newnham in Books and Movies

Newnham College has appeared in several stories and films:

Virginia Woolf wrote about Newnham College in her books A Room of One's Own (calling it 'Fernham') and "A Women's College from the Outside".
In James Hilton's novel Random Harvest, a character named Kitty attended Newnham College.
Newnham College was featured in the 2019 movie Red Joan.
The TV detective series Grantchester set an episode in 2020 at Newnham. The story involved a student's death after a college party.