Sunken gardens outside Talbot Hall, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Fellows' Garden, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Gardens outside Wordsworth Building, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m.[1]
Lady Margaret Hall accepts both undergraduate and graduate students. However, undergraduates form the significant majority of the student population of the college.
History
Lady Margaret Hall, the first women's college in Oxford, was founded in 1878 by Elizabeth Wordsworth, a great-niece of the poet William Wordsworth and daughter of Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln. It opened its doors to its first students the following year. It was named for Lady Margaret Beaufort, a medieval noblewoman and mother of King Henry VII, known for her exceptional learning and high birth. The college's original house, Old Hall (now known as Old Old Hall), is still in use. Its first nine students were (by rule) Anglicans; Somerville College opened as a non-sectarian Oxford alternative a year later. In 1979, along with most of the other women's colleges, it decided to admit men as well as women.
The College
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the few Oxford colleges on the River Cherwell, and is known for its punting and its spacious grounds, which occupy about twelve acres. Just behind the main buildings, which are neo-Georgian in style, made from red brick with white trim, are a set of playing fields and tennis courts, as well as a manicured Fellows' Garden, hidden from view by tall hedgerows. Giles Gilbert Scott, famous for designing Liverpool Cathedral and the K2 red telephone box designed the college's Byzantine-style chapel. Members of the college refer to Lady Margaret Hall as LMH. Its colours are yellow, white and blue, and its motto is "Souvent me Souviens", an Old French phrase meaning "I remember often". The bell in the clock above the lodge rings hourly between 08:00 and 22:00.
In 2005, the architect firm John Simpson and Partners was selected to design a programme of significant developments to the college. [1]
In Summer 2006 the College opened a new Law Library in the space underneath the current library, which was opened in December by Cherie Booth QC.
Notable alumni
- James Allen, Formula One commentator
- Diana Athill, publisher's editor
- Gertrude Bell, writer and diplomat
- Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan
- Nicky Blair, son of former Prime Minister Tony Blair
- Elisabeth Blochmann, educationalist
- Katharine Mary Briggs, writer
- Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC Three
- Donal Coonan, presenter
- Caryl Churchill, playwright
- Lindsey Davis, novelist
- Antonia Fraser, writer
- Michael Gove, politician
- Aletha Hayter, author
- Baroness Hogg, journalist
- Philip Hollobone, politician
- Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children
- Bridget Kendall, BBC diplomatic correspondent
- Nigella Lawson, celebrity chef
- Ann Leslie, journalist
- Josie Long, comedian
- Elizabeth Longford, writer
- Eliza Manningham-Buller, former director general of MI5
- Barbara Mills, former Director of Public Prosecutions
- Priscilla Napier, author
- Cathy Newman, Channel 4 News journalist
- H. F. M. Prescott, historian
- Diana Quick, actress
- Johnny Rogan, author and broadcaster
- Matthew Taylor, politician
- Ann Trindade, historian
- Baroness Warnock, philosopher
- C. V. Wedgwood, historian
- Anna Walker, British civil servant
- Samuel West, actor
- Ann Widdecombe, politician
References
- ^ Oxford College Endowment Incomes, 1973-2006 (updated July 2007)
External links
See also
Former students of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
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