St Hugh's College, Oxford
Encyclopedia
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges
of the University of Oxford
. It is located on a fourteen and a half acre site on St Margaret's Road
, to the North of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986. It enjoys a reputation as one of the more attractive colleges because of its extensive, pleasant gardens. The college celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2011.
. It is bordered by Banbury Road to the east, Woodstock Road to the west, St Margaret’s Road to the north (the front entrance) and Canterbury Road to the south (the back gate). The gardens of the college cover about ten and a half acres and have been described as the best of the Oxford colleges.
(great-niece of the famous poet William Wordsworth
) to help the growing number of women "who find the charges of the present Halls at Oxford and Cambridge (even the most moderate) beyond their means". Using money left to her by her father, who had been Bishop of Lincoln, she established the college at 25 Norham Road
in North Oxford. She named the college after one of her father's 13th-century predecessors, Hugh of Avalon, who was canonised in 1220, and in whose diocese Oxford had been.
The college was initially run out of properties in Norham Road, Norham Gardens and Fyfield Road. There first six students were Annie Moberly, Jessie Annie Emmerson, Charlotte Jourdain, Constance E Ashburner, Wilhemina J de Lorna Mitchell and Grace J Parsons. Students were required to ask the Principal before accepting invitations to visit friends, and the college gates were locked at 9pm. Records show that rent was between £21 and £18 a term depending on the size of the room, with fires being charged extra.
The college began to move to its present site in 1913, when it purchased the lease of a house called 'The Mount' from the Rev Robert Hartley for £2,500. This house was situated on the corner of St Margaret's Road and Banbury Road, and was owned by University College. The house was demolished to make way for the Main Building of the college, which was constructed between 1914 and 1916 thanks to a gift from Clara Evelyn Mordan; the college's new library was named Mordan Hall in her honour. The first book was a copy of Sale's Koran, which was given to the college by the then Bishop of Tokyo.
The college soon took over other properties nearby. The leasehold of No 4 St Margaret's Road was acquired in 1919; it became the first 'College house'. The leasehold of No 82 Woodstock Road was gifted to the college by Dr Joan Evans in 1924 and No 89 Banbury Road was purchased from Lincoln College for £7,000 in 1927. The college obtained the freehold to the main site in 1927 and a year later the first stage of the Mary Gray Allen building was constructed by building over the tennis courts. The freeholds of Nos 1-4 St Margaret's Road and 74-82 Woodstock Road were purchased from St John's College in 1931 and 1932 respectively. The college received a Royal Charter in 1926.
Between 1935 and 1936 No 1 St Margaret's Road was demolished and a new library was built in the Mary Gray Allen building; it was named the Moberly library after St Hugh's first Principal (the library was extensively renovated between 1999 and 2000 and renamed the Howard Piper library after a St Hugh's alumnus).
At the outbreak of the Second World War the college site was requisitioned by the military for use as the Hospital for Head Injuries under the directorship of Hugh Cairns, the Professor of Surgery at Nuffield College. Brick huts were constructed in the college grounds with space for 300 beds. Between 1940 and 1945, over 13,000 servicemen and women were treated at the college. Advances in medicine discovered at the hospital meant the mortality rate for brain-penetrating injuries fell from 90% to 9%. Staff and students were relocated to Holywell Manor, Savile House and St Hilda's College for the duration of the war.
In 1943 the college acquired the leasehold of No 72 Woodstock Road (known as The Shrubbery) from Dame Gertrude Whitehead for £1,500. It was used as a club for American soldiers during the war. In 1946, it was leased to the University of Paris as 'Maison Francaise', an Anglo-American educational establishment. One of the cottages in the grounds of No 72 was later leased by Barbara Gwyer after her retirement as Principal.
In 1951 the college purchased the freeholds to Nos 85 and 87 Banbury Road and 9 to 13 Canterbury Road from St John's College. In addition, the freehold of The Shrubbery was acquired; this meant the college now owned the freehold of the entire fourteen and a half acre site. The college extended the Main Building in 1958.
The 1960s saw an extensive program of building work at St Hugh's. The Shrubbery was converted into the Principal's Lodgings in 1963. Between 1964 and 1965 the Kenyon Building was constructed to provide accommodation for students. This was followed shortly after by the Wolfson Building, which was constructed between 1966 and 1967 and opened by Princess Alexandra
and Harold Macmillan
in his role as Chancellor of the University.
The Chapel was renovated in 1980; a new organ was installed. The following year, Nos 78, 80 and 82 Woodstock Road were also renovated. The houses are now named SH Ho House, Ho Tim House and KK Leung House in recognition of the gifts from the three Hong Kong benefactors that funded the renovations.
A new boathouse was constructed (jointly with St Anne's and Wadham Colleges) between 1989 and 1990. This was followed by the construction of the Rachel Trickett Building between 1991 and 1992 at a cost of £3.4 million.
Between 1999 and 2000 the library was extensively renovated. It was reopened by Betty Boothroyd
and was renamed after Howard Piper, a Maths student of the college who died shortly after graduating. A major refurishment of Mordan Hall, the old library, took place in 2007.
There are statues of both St Hugh and Elizabeth Wordsworth on the library stairs. These were presented to the college as gifts for its Jubilee in 1936. St Hugh carries a model of Lincoln Cathedral, which would have been very familiar to Elizabeth Wordsworth, and has his other hand resting on the head of a swan, probably the famous swan of Stow
, although the swan is also a symbol of purity. Elizabeth Wordsworth is depicted wearing her doctoral robes.
St Hugh's College celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2011; a summer garden party was attended by over 1,200 guests. Aung San Suu Kyi
sent a message to the college, saying "Happy moments are one of the pillars that keep the spirit uplifted during hard times. St Hugh’s and Oxford are inextricable from my happiest memories, those that I could draw on when the beauty of the world seemed dim. I so wish I could be with you at this very moment to relive old joys and to stir up new ones for the future. I would like to thank all my friends for the happiness we shared. To the present students of St Hugh’s I would simply like to say: Make the most of your time in this wonderful place."
In its 125th anniversary year, the college became a registered charity under the name 'The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh's College in the University of Oxford'. As of July 2010, the college's financial endowment was £21.7 million. This was amongst the lowest of the Oxford colleges; by comparison, St John's college had a financial endowment of £313 million.
had made a £10 million donation to the college for the construction of the Dickson Poon China Centre. The Centre will house the university's China Studies department, as well as providing accommodation for St Hugh's students. Construction is due to start in July 2012.
St Hugh's is unusual amongst Oxford colleges in guaranteeing undergraduates accommodation on-site for all years of their course. There is a range of rooms and flats available which are decided by the room ballots organised by the student bodies.
The main entrance of the college leads straight to the Main Building, which usually accommodates first year students, but also houses the chapel and the dining hall. Other first year students may be accommodated in the 1960s Kenyon Building, named for Dame Kathleen Kenyon
. Second years either live in the Rachel Trickett
Building, named for a past principal of the college, or the Mary Gray Allen Building. Wolfson Building consists of nine staircases. Finalists usually live in the newer Maplethorpe Building, whose rooms have en-suite facilities and clusters of eight rooms sharing a kitchen on each of the three floors, with four staircases altogether. All the rooms have views of gardens.
The college is big enough to accommodate all its undergraduates and a large proportion of its postgraduates for the duration of their studies. There are two big lawns which are for the use of students all year round. The gardens are also the venue for croquet
, tennis
and ultimate frisbee, and St Hugh's is the only Oxford college with its own basketball
courts. There are a wide range of clubs and societies, both sporting, academic, and those supporting niche interests.
on Sundays. The choir draws its members from all three common rooms, and has performed for a wide variety of different guests, ranging from the Jamaican High Commissioner
to many bishops and archbishops.
The present organ was constructed by the Italian organ-builder Tamburini in the 1980. The college offers an organ scholar
ships along with four choral exhibitions each year, and employs a professional organist to oversee the chapel music.
is the incumbent Home Secretary
and Minister for Women and Equality
and until recently Barbara Castle
, former Secretary of State
, was the woman MP with the longest continuous service. Aung San Suu Kyi
, the Nobel Peace Prize
winner studied at the college, as did musician Joe Goddard (from electropop outfit Hot Chip
) and the mathematical child prodigy Ruth Lawrence
, who joined the college in 1983 aged 12. BAFTA Award winning actress and comedienne Rebecca Front
began her career at St. Hugh's, touring with the Oxford Revue in 1984.
Colleges of the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...
of the University of 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...
. It is located on a fourteen and a half acre site on St Margaret's Road
St Margaret's Road
St Margaret's Road is a road in North Oxford, England. It runs between Kingston Road to the west and Banbury Road to the east, crossing Woodstock Road. To the south are Farndon Road to the west and Canterbury Road to the east...
, to the North of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986. It enjoys a reputation as one of the more attractive colleges because of its extensive, pleasant gardens. The college celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2011.
Location
St Hugh’s occupies a rectangular site in North OxfordNorth Oxford
North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College....
. It is bordered by Banbury Road to the east, Woodstock Road to the west, St Margaret’s Road to the north (the front entrance) and Canterbury Road to the south (the back gate). The gardens of the college cover about ten and a half acres and have been described as the best of the Oxford colleges.
Founding and early years
St Hugh's was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth WordsworthElizabeth Wordsworth
Dame Elizabeth Wordsworth was the great-niece of the poet William Wordsworth. She was the daughter of Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln, and the sister of John Wordsworth, Bishop of Salisbury and Christopher Wordsworth, a liturgical scholar.Educated at home, she learned several modern...
(great-niece of the famous poet William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
) to help the growing number of women "who find the charges of the present Halls at Oxford and Cambridge (even the most moderate) beyond their means". Using money left to her by her father, who had been Bishop of Lincoln, she established the college at 25 Norham Road
Norham Road
Norham Road lies east off Banbury Road in central North Oxford, a suburb in the city of Oxford, England.- Location :The road is within the Norham Manor area. It consists mainly of large Victorian houses, many of three storeys above ground with a basement below...
in North Oxford. She named the college after one of her father's 13th-century predecessors, Hugh of Avalon, who was canonised in 1220, and in whose diocese Oxford had been.
The college was initially run out of properties in Norham Road, Norham Gardens and Fyfield Road. There first six students were Annie Moberly, Jessie Annie Emmerson, Charlotte Jourdain, Constance E Ashburner, Wilhemina J de Lorna Mitchell and Grace J Parsons. Students were required to ask the Principal before accepting invitations to visit friends, and the college gates were locked at 9pm. Records show that rent was between £21 and £18 a term depending on the size of the room, with fires being charged extra.
The college began to move to its present site in 1913, when it purchased the lease of a house called 'The Mount' from the Rev Robert Hartley for £2,500. This house was situated on the corner of St Margaret's Road and Banbury Road, and was owned by University College. The house was demolished to make way for the Main Building of the college, which was constructed between 1914 and 1916 thanks to a gift from Clara Evelyn Mordan; the college's new library was named Mordan Hall in her honour. The first book was a copy of Sale's Koran, which was given to the college by the then Bishop of Tokyo.
The college soon took over other properties nearby. The leasehold of No 4 St Margaret's Road was acquired in 1919; it became the first 'College house'. The leasehold of No 82 Woodstock Road was gifted to the college by Dr Joan Evans in 1924 and No 89 Banbury Road was purchased from Lincoln College for £7,000 in 1927. The college obtained the freehold to the main site in 1927 and a year later the first stage of the Mary Gray Allen building was constructed by building over the tennis courts. The freeholds of Nos 1-4 St Margaret's Road and 74-82 Woodstock Road were purchased from St John's College in 1931 and 1932 respectively. The college received a Royal Charter in 1926.
Between 1935 and 1936 No 1 St Margaret's Road was demolished and a new library was built in the Mary Gray Allen building; it was named the Moberly library after St Hugh's first Principal (the library was extensively renovated between 1999 and 2000 and renamed the Howard Piper library after a St Hugh's alumnus).
At the outbreak of the Second World War the college site was requisitioned by the military for use as the Hospital for Head Injuries under the directorship of Hugh Cairns, the Professor of Surgery at Nuffield College. Brick huts were constructed in the college grounds with space for 300 beds. Between 1940 and 1945, over 13,000 servicemen and women were treated at the college. Advances in medicine discovered at the hospital meant the mortality rate for brain-penetrating injuries fell from 90% to 9%. Staff and students were relocated to Holywell Manor, Savile House and St Hilda's College for the duration of the war.
In 1943 the college acquired the leasehold of No 72 Woodstock Road (known as The Shrubbery) from Dame Gertrude Whitehead for £1,500. It was used as a club for American soldiers during the war. In 1946, it was leased to the University of Paris as 'Maison Francaise', an Anglo-American educational establishment. One of the cottages in the grounds of No 72 was later leased by Barbara Gwyer after her retirement as Principal.
Post Second World War
The college buildings were de-requisitioned in 1945. The hospital huts were initially leased as offices to university departments, including the Bureau of Animal Population, the Department of Zoological Field Studies and the Institute of Statistics, before being demolished in 1952.In 1951 the college purchased the freeholds to Nos 85 and 87 Banbury Road and 9 to 13 Canterbury Road from St John's College. In addition, the freehold of The Shrubbery was acquired; this meant the college now owned the freehold of the entire fourteen and a half acre site. The college extended the Main Building in 1958.
The 1960s saw an extensive program of building work at St Hugh's. The Shrubbery was converted into the Principal's Lodgings in 1963. Between 1964 and 1965 the Kenyon Building was constructed to provide accommodation for students. This was followed shortly after by the Wolfson Building, which was constructed between 1966 and 1967 and opened by Princess Alexandra
Princess Alexandra
Princess Alexandra may refer to:*Alexandra the Maccabee of the Hasmonean Kingdom*Princess Alexandra of Denmark , oldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, Queen consort of Edward VII...
and Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
in his role as Chancellor of the University.
The Chapel was renovated in 1980; a new organ was installed. The following year, Nos 78, 80 and 82 Woodstock Road were also renovated. The houses are now named SH Ho House, Ho Tim House and KK Leung House in recognition of the gifts from the three Hong Kong benefactors that funded the renovations.
A new boathouse was constructed (jointly with St Anne's and Wadham Colleges) between 1989 and 1990. This was followed by the construction of the Rachel Trickett Building between 1991 and 1992 at a cost of £3.4 million.
Present day
Between 1998 and 2000 the Maplethorpe Building was constructed; the building contains conference facilities on the ground floor and student accommodation on the upper three floors. The building missed its planned opening date of summer 2000, meaning students had to be accommodated in B&Bs throughout Michaelmas term. In addition, a new main entrance was constructed at the back of the college on Canterbury Road.Between 1999 and 2000 the library was extensively renovated. It was reopened by Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000, initially for the Labour Party and, from 1992 to 2000, as Speaker of the House of Commons...
and was renamed after Howard Piper, a Maths student of the college who died shortly after graduating. A major refurishment of Mordan Hall, the old library, took place in 2007.
There are statues of both St Hugh and Elizabeth Wordsworth on the library stairs. These were presented to the college as gifts for its Jubilee in 1936. St Hugh carries a model of Lincoln Cathedral, which would have been very familiar to Elizabeth Wordsworth, and has his other hand resting on the head of a swan, probably the famous swan of Stow
Stow, Lincolnshire
Stow is a small village and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is eleven miles northwest of the city of Lincoln and six miles southeast of Gainsborough, and has a total resident population of 355.Stow dates back to Roman times and in the...
, although the swan is also a symbol of purity. Elizabeth Wordsworth is depicted wearing her doctoral robes.
St Hugh's College celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2011; a summer garden party was attended by over 1,200 guests. Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
sent a message to the college, saying "Happy moments are one of the pillars that keep the spirit uplifted during hard times. St Hugh’s and Oxford are inextricable from my happiest memories, those that I could draw on when the beauty of the world seemed dim. I so wish I could be with you at this very moment to relive old joys and to stir up new ones for the future. I would like to thank all my friends for the happiness we shared. To the present students of St Hugh’s I would simply like to say: Make the most of your time in this wonderful place."
In its 125th anniversary year, the college became a registered charity under the name 'The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh's College in the University of Oxford'. As of July 2010, the college's financial endowment was £21.7 million. This was amongst the lowest of the Oxford colleges; by comparison, St John's college had a financial endowment of £313 million.
Future development
In 2008, the college began a fundraising drive for a new building on the college site. In November 2010, it was confirmed that Hong Kong businessman Dickson PoonDickson Poon
Dickson Poon, SBS is a Hong Kong businessman in the luxury goods retailing sector. Poon is the executive chairman of his Hong Kong listed vehicle Dickson Concepts , which owns companies including Harvey Nichols and S. T. Dupont...
had made a £10 million donation to the college for the construction of the Dickson Poon China Centre. The Centre will house the university's China Studies department, as well as providing accommodation for St Hugh's students. Construction is due to start in July 2012.
Student life
The main entrance of the college leads straight to the Main Building, which usually accommodates first year students, but also houses the chapel and the dining hall. Other first year students may be accommodated in the 1960s Kenyon Building, named for Dame Kathleen Kenyon
Kathleen Kenyon
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon , was a leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She is best known for her excavations in Jericho in 1952-1958.-Early life:...
. Second years either live in the Rachel Trickett
Rachel Trickett
Rachel Trickett was an English novelist, non‑fiction writer, literary scholar, and a prominent British academic; she served as Principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford for nearly twenty years, between 1973 and 1991....
Building, named for a past principal of the college, or the Mary Gray Allen Building. Wolfson Building consists of nine staircases. Finalists usually live in the newer Maplethorpe Building, whose rooms have en-suite facilities and clusters of eight rooms sharing a kitchen on each of the three floors, with four staircases altogether. All the rooms have views of gardens.
The college is big enough to accommodate all its undergraduates and a large proportion of its postgraduates for the duration of their studies. There are two big lawns which are for the use of students all year round. The gardens are also the venue for croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and ultimate frisbee, and St Hugh's is the only Oxford college with its own basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
courts. There are a wide range of clubs and societies, both sporting, academic, and those supporting niche interests.
Choir
Like most other colleges in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, St. Hugh's has a choir which sings weekly evensongEvening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
on Sundays. The choir draws its members from all three common rooms, and has performed for a wide variety of different guests, ranging from the Jamaican High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
to many bishops and archbishops.
The present organ was constructed by the Italian organ-builder Tamburini in the 1980. The college offers an organ scholar
Organ scholar
An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at an institution where regular choral services are held. The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and administrative experience....
ships along with four choral exhibitions each year, and employs a professional organist to oversee the chapel music.
Principals
| Years | Principal |
|---|---|
| 1886–1915 | Charlotte Anne Moberly Charlotte Anne Moberly Charlotte Anne Moberly was an English academic. She was the daughter of George Moberly, and was made the first Principal of St. Hugh's College, Oxford... |
| 1915–1924 | Eleanor Jourdain Eleanor Jourdain Eleanor Jourdain was an English academic and author, and Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, 1915 to 1924. She rose to fame following a claim that she and a fellow teacher had slipped back in time to the period of the French Revolution while on a trip to Versailles, known as the... |
| 1924–1946 | Barbara Gwyer |
| 1946–1962 | Evelyn Procter |
| 1962–1973 | Kathleen Kenyon Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon , was a leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She is best known for her excavations in Jericho in 1952-1958.-Early life:... |
| 1973–1991 | Rachel Trickett Rachel Trickett Rachel Trickett was an English novelist, non‑fiction writer, literary scholar, and a prominent British academic; she served as Principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford for nearly twenty years, between 1973 and 1991.... |
| 1991–2002 | Derek Wood |
| 2002–2012 | Andrew Dilnot Andrew Dilnot Andrew Dilnot CBE is British economist and broadcaster. He has been Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford since October 2002. He was for several years the presenter of BBC Radio 4's series on numbers, More or Less and of documentaries for British television. Dilnot was Director of the Institute... |
JCR presidents
| Year | JCR president | Vice president |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Victor Greenstreet | Annie MacIver |
| 2010 | Liam O'Connor | Cameron Dobbs |
| 2009 | Chris Blake | Joseph Wales |
| 2008 | Barry Wright | Nikita Malik |
| 2007 | Alistair Wrench | Andrew Hearn |
MCR presidents
| Year | MCR president | Vice president |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-2011 | Solomon Pomerantz | Lisa Moevius |
| 2010 (interim) | Lisa Moevius | Joerg Robin |
| 2009-10 | Therese-Heather Belen | Iain (Kip) Perdue |
| 2008-09 | Iain (Kip) Perdue | Sophie Iles |
Notable alumni
St Hugh's students are present in all spheres of public life. Theresa MayTheresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
is the incumbent Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
and Minister for Women and Equality
Minister for Women and Equality
The post of Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom with responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality.-History:...
and until recently Barbara Castle
Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
, former Secretary of State
Secretary of State (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, a Secretary of State is a Cabinet Minister in charge of a Government Department ....
, was the woman MP with the longest continuous service. Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
, the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winner studied at the college, as did musician Joe Goddard (from electropop outfit Hot Chip
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English electronic indie band. They have released four studio albums—Coming on Strong, The Warning, Made in the Dark and One Life Stand.-Formation:...
) and the mathematical child prodigy Ruth Lawrence
Ruth Lawrence
Ruth Elke Lawrence-Naimark is an Associate Professor of mathematics at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a researcher in knot theory and algebraic topology. Outside academia, she is best known for being a child prodigy in mathematics.- Youth :Ruth Lawrence...
, who joined the college in 1983 aged 12. BAFTA Award winning actress and comedienne Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is a BAFTA Award–winning English comedian and actress best known for her performances in The Thick of It in the late 2000s, and series of critically acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
began her career at St. Hugh's, touring with the Oxford Revue in 1984.