Christine Mary Elizabeth Burrows (4 January 1872 – 10 September 1959) was a British academic administrator who the second Principal of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...

, from 1910 to 1919 and the second Principal of

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

, from 1921 to 1929.

Early life

She was born in

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

, Oxfordshire on 4 January 1872 and educated at

Cheltenham Ladies’ College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

. The daughter of Esther Elizabeth Burrows and Henry Parker Burrows; her father, a businessman, died before she was born and her mother was the first principal of St Hilda's. She began studying history at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

but had to postpone her studies when her mother took up her role at St Hilda's in 1893. She continued her studies as a Home-Student and completed her exams in 1894. As women students could not earn degrees from Oxford at the time, she did not receive her MA until 1921.

Career

Burrows became a History tutor at St Hilda's in 1894 and Vice Principal in 1895. She succeeded her mother as Principal in 1910 but resigned from the position in 1919 to care for her ailing mother. In 1920, she and five others represented the

British Federation of University Women The British Federation of Women Graduates (BFWG) was founded in 1907 as the British Federation of University Women (BFUW) to "afford a means of communication and of united action in matters affecting the interest of women". It was renamed the Brit ...

at the

International Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...

meeting in London. In 1921, she became Principal of the Society of Oxford Home-Students (now St Anne's College, Oxford) as she could continue her caring duties alongside the role while living at home. In 1926, she served as principal of an Oxford summer course for over 200 American women students. In 1929, she again resigned her position to care for her mother, who died in 1935. In her retirement, Burrows served on a committee of the Church of England on the place of women in the church and wrote a history of St. Hilda's College.

Death

Burrows died at St Luke's Home, Linton Road, Oxford, on 10 September 1959. Following a funeral at St Giles' Church, Oxford, her body was cremated.

References

External links

A painted portrait of Christine Burrows
from about 1920, at

Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 220,000 paintings by more than 40,000 artists and is now expanding the digital collection t ...

.
A photograph of Christine Burrows
from 1950, in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Christine 1872 births 1959 deaths Principals of St Anne's College, Oxford Principals of St Hilda's College, Oxford People from Chipping Norton Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford