Emily Penrose
Encyclopedia
Dame Emily Penrose, DBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (Born 18 September 1858, London - 26 January 1942, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

) was Principal of Somerville College, Oxford University from 1907 until 1926. She was the second of five children and eldest of the four daughters of Francis Cranmer Penrose
Francis Penrose
Francis Cranmer Penrose FRS was an English rower, architect, archaeologist and astronomer.-Early life:...

, architect and archaeologist.

Career

Penrose, who never married, was emblematic of the history of women in Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. This was steady infiltration, as they gradually secured admission first to lectures, then to examinations, and finally, in 1920, to university membership. During this period Somerville took the lead in a number of important respects. In 1894 it became the first of the five women's halls of residence to adopt the title of 'college' and the first of them to appoint its own teaching staff, the first to set an entrance examination, and the first to build a library. With the establishment in 1903 of the Mary Somerville Research Fellowship it was the first to offer women in Oxford opportunities for research. In the 1890s the Somerville Council was prominent in an unsuccessful campaign to admit women to degrees. The success of the 1920 campaign owed much to the diplomatic skills and academic reputation of the Principal, Emily Penrose

Dame Emily Penrose's life is commemorated with her place on the wall in the Somerville College Chapel. In this prominent position, she is bookmarked by fellow ex-principals of the former women's-only college.

She was previously the second Principal of Royal Holloway College
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...

 (RHC) from 1898-1907 where she succeeded Matilda Ellen Bishop
Matilda Ellen Bishop
Matilda Ellen Bishop was the first Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London. Her father was a scholarly Church of England clergyman.-Early life:...

. She was followed in that role by Ellen Charlotte Higgins
Ellen Charlotte Higgins
Ellen Charlotte Higgins was the third Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London from 1907-1935...

. Prior to RHC she was the Principal of Bedford College from 1893-1898. Penrose was Principal of Somerville College when Vera Brittain
Vera Brittain
Vera Mary Brittain was a British writer, feminist and pacifist, best remembered as the author of the best-selling 1933 memoir Testament of Youth, recounting her experiences during World War I and the beginning of her journey towards pacifism.-Life:Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Brittain was the...

went up to Oxford.
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