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St Hugh's College is a
constituent college A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Col ...
of the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a
women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male st ...
, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986. Prominent alumni include
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
,
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
,
Amal Clooney Amal Clooney (; born ) is a British International human rights law, international human rights lawyer. She has represented several high-profile clients, including former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, form ...
and Heather Hallett, Baroness Hallett. It enjoys a reputation as one of the most attractive colleges because of its extensive gardens. 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 2023, the college's
financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of Financial instrument, financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to Donor intent, the will of its fo ...
was £39.2 million. The college's Visitor is Ingrid Simler, Lady Simler and in February 2025 it was announced that Michele Acton would be the college's next Principal, succeeding Lady Elish Angiolini.


History


Founding and early years

St Hugh's was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth (great-niece of the poet
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
) as a women's college. A large percentage of the young women who came to St Hugh's in the early years were the daughters of clergymen; most of the other fathers were professional, middle-class men. Its purpose was "to make it possible for women of modest means to live and study in Oxford...with religious teachings (
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
) on the same lines as Lady Margaret Hall" of which Elizabeth Wordsworth had been founding principal. Using money left to her by her father Christopher Wordsworth, who had been Bishop of Lincoln, Wordsworth established the new college at 25 Norham Road in North Oxford. She named the college after one of her father's 12th-century predecessors, Hugh of Lincoln, who was canonised in 1220, and in whose diocese Oxford had been. The college was initially accommodated in properties in Norham Road, Norham Gardens and Fyfield Road.''St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011''; p. 9 The first principal being Charlotte Anne Moberly, its first students were Jessie Annie Emmerson, Charlotte Jourdain, Constance E. Ashburner, Wilhelmina 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 £18 and £21 a term, depending on the size of the room, with fires being charged extra.''St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011''; p. 14 At first tuition and lectures were arranged by the Association for the Education of Women, the first college tutor being Dora Wylie, appointed around 1898. 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 stood on the corner of St Margaret's Road and Banbury Road, and the freehold was owned by University College. The house was later 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.''St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011''; p. 13 The first book was a copy of Sale's translation of the
Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
, which was given to the college by the then Bishop of Tokyo.St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011, p. 12 In 1919,
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
began to tutor undergraduates at St Hugh's, given that the women's colleges were in great need of good teachers in their early years, and Tolkien as a married professor (then still not common) was considered suitable, as a bachelor don would not have been. The college soon took over other properties nearby. The leasehold of 4 St Margaret's Road was acquired in 1919; it became the first "College house". The leasehold of 82 Woodstock Road was donated to the college by Joan Evans in 1924, and 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 on what had been the tennis courts. The freeholds of 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. In 1936, to mark 50 years since it was founded, a "Group Portrait" was painted of Evelyn Procter, History Tutor; Edith Wardale, English Language Tutor; Elizabeth Francis, French Tutor; Barbara Gwyer, Principal; and Cecilia Ady, History Tutor by
Henry Lamb Henry Taylor Lamb (21 June 1883 – 8 October 1960) was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, Lamb was a founder member of the Camden Town Group in 1911 and of the London Group in 1913. Early life Henry Lamb was bo ...
. In the same year 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 the first principal of the college (the library was extensively renovated between 1999 and 2000 and renamed the Howard Piper Library after a St Hugh's alumnus, after his parents made a large donation to the college).


Second World War

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 first Nuffield Professor of Surgery.St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011 at page 20 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.St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011 at page 10 In 1943 the college acquired the leasehold of 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 the Maison française d'Oxford, an Anglo-French educational establishment. One of the cottages in the grounds of number 72 was later leased by Barbara Gwyer after her retirement as principal.


1945 onwards

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. Agnes Headlam-Morley, a fellow of St Hugh's, became the first woman to hold a chair at the University of Oxford in 1948. In 1951 the college purchased the freeholds to 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 -acre site. The college extended the Main Building in 1958.St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011 at page 11 The 1960s saw an extensive programme 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 (designed by modern architect David Roberts, the building has already been given a heritage listing). This was followed shortly after by the Wolfson Building, which was constructed between 1966 and 1967 and opened by Princess Alexandra and
Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...
in his role as chancellor of the university. The chapel was renovated in 1980; a new organ was installed. The following year, 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.


Arrival of co-education

In 1964, New College made a proposal for the admission of women to the men's colleges, and by the early 1970s several Oxford colleges had become mixed to a limited degree in this way. In 1979, two women's colleges, Lady Margaret Hall and St Anne's, reciprocated by admitting men as undergraduates, while St Hugh's, which was already employing male college lecturers, decided to admit men as
Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
s. Resistance to full co-education was led by those who predicted that it would have severely negative effects on women academics and who saw other advantages in women's colleges. Admitting men as undergraduates was first proposed to the governing body in 1980, and there was a majority for it, but it did not secure the required two-thirds majority. The college principal, Rachel Trickett, fought off full co-education at St Hugh's for some years, even taking her case to the national newspapers, and it was not finally agreed until 1986. When Trickett retired in 1991, she was succeeded by the first male Principal, Derek Wood. A new boathouse was constructed for the St Hugh's Boat Club (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, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency), West Bromwich an ...
and was renamed after Howard Piper, a Maths student of the college who, shortly after graduating, died in a rafting accident. Mordan Hall, an older library, underwent a major refurbishment, reopening 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, the famous swan of Stow. 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 (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
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 2012 the college was sued for allegedly discriminating against the poor by requiring evidence of funds for living costs. St Hugh's, which filed defence papers to the court, accepted barring the student on financial grounds, but claimed the measure was necessary to ensure students can complete their studies. The college eventually settled the claim, with the university promising to conduct a review of the Financial Guarantee policy. In September 2013, it was revealed that the university had decided to abolish the Financial Guarantee policy and replace it with a less restrictive 'Financial Declaration'.


Recent 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 Poon had made a £10 million donation to the college for the construction of the Dickson Poon China Centre. The centre houses the university's China Studies department, as well as providing accommodation for St Hugh's postgraduate students and The Wordsworth Tea Room. The Dickson Poon building was opened by Prince William in September 2014.


Buildings and location

St Hugh's occupies a rectangular site in
North 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 architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...
. 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. The main entrance of the college leads straight into the Main Building, containing accommodation, teaching facilities, the chapel, and the dining hall. As of 2022, the majority of first year students are housed in the Main Building, in addition to the Kenyon Building (named for
Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...
). Some first years are housed in the Maplethorpe and Mary Gray Allen Buildings, although the majority within these buildings are second years and finalists. The Rachel Trickett Building (named for a past principal) and 82 Woodstock Road are further used as second and third year accommodation, whilst the Wolfson Building is almost exclusively used for second years. Further finalist accommodation is provided for in houses on Banbury Road. All undergraduate rooms have kitchen access, with the majority sharing bathroom access (barring Maplethorpe and the Rachel Trickett Building, which have en-suite access). In 2018 the college adopted two cats – Admiral Flapjack and Professor Biscuit. Due to the installation of cat-flaps in 2019, the cats have free roam of the majority of buildings.


Finances

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 2018, the college's
financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of Financial instrument, financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to Donor intent, the will of its fo ...
was £37.6 million. By comparison, St John's college had a financial endowment of £551.5 million.


Student life

The college is big enough to accommodate all its undergraduates for the duration of their studies. There are three large lawns for the use of students all year round. The gardens are also the venue for
croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...
. There are a wide range of clubs and societies – sporting, academic, and those supporting niche interests, such as horticulture. The college has Formal Hall—a formal three or four course dinner—once a week. Students wait for Senior Members to come into High Table and Grace is said in Latin by the presiding fellow, usually the Principal, immediately prior to the meal:


Junior Common Room

As is the practice at all Oxford Colleges that offer undergraduate degrees, the undergraduate body is represented by a committee, known as the JCR Committee. Otherwise, 'JCR' refers to the physical common room in the college. The JCR was previously known as the Aung San Suu Kyi Junior Common Room, but in 2017 the student body voted to remove her name from the room's title. ''The Swan'' is a weekly student-managed newspaper.


Middle Common Room

The college's Middle Common Room (MCR) is located on 87 Banbury Road.


Choir

St Hugh's has a choir which sings weekly
evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...
on Sundays. The choir draws its members from all three common rooms. The present organ was constructed by the Italian organ-builder Tamburini in 1980. The college offers organ scholarships along with four choral exhibitions each year, and employs a professional organist to oversee the chapel music.


St Hugh's College Boat Club

St Hugh's College Boat Club (SHBC) is a
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...
club for members of St Hugh's College, Oxford. It is based on the
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
at Boathouse Island,
Christ Church Meadow, Oxford Christ Church Meadow is a flood-meadow and popular walking and picnic spot in Oxford, England. Roughly triangular in shape, it is bounded by the River Thames (the stretch through Oxford being known as "The Isis"), the River Cherwell, and Chri ...
. The boat club blazer is blue with white and yellow trim on the cuffs and lapels.


History

St Hugh's College Boat Club has a long and rich history, with notable contributions towards the development and establishment of women's rowing at Oxford. The establishment of the Boat Club occurred a few years after the college (originally St Hugh's Hall) itself was founded, with the year 1891 being the first record of a boat being owned by the club. The boat was stored at the River Cherwell and only students "who can swim 50 feet" were permitted to use it. Almost 20 years later, the boat club was able to buy and acquire its first boathouse - the Middle Cherwell Boat House. After three to four decades of building and gathering much needed infrastructure, the quality of training provided by the club improved significantly. This resulted in the Boat Club winning the Inter-College Fresher's fours, which signified the potential of the club. However, the next year, due to unforeseen and unknown circumstances, the Boat Club came into financial trouble, unable to operate. It resulted in a temporary lapse in outings as Boat Club members deliberated with the JCR and College on how best to rectify the situation. A solution was reached in 1953, where it was agreed that as long as "half a dozen" of members are active and pay a termly subscription of 15s (75p), then the Boat Club would receive full support from the college. This issue was officially "settled" with the Club restarting its activities in Michaelmas Term of 1953, after acquiring a new boat. Unfortunately, this bout of luck was short-lived as the Boat Club suddenly came into "desperate straits" due to the loss of their only race-worthy boat, before the annual Boat Race against Cambridge. There is not mention of the St Hugh's Boat Club after the 1954-55 issue of the St Hugh's Chronicle, leading to the assumption that the Boat Club was unable to recover from the loss of their boat. It is only after one and a half decades later that the Boat club is mentioned again, with its refounding occurring in 1973, thanks to the enthusiasm of Julia Winterbottom, Jennifer Greenwood and Judy Bartley. The newly rejuvenated club boasted 16 members coached by the members of the
Brasenose College Boat Club Brasenose College Boat Club (BNCBC) is the rowing club of Brasenose College, Oxford, in Oxford, England. It is one of the oldest boat clubs in the world, having beaten Jesus College Boat Club (Oxford), Jesus College Boat Club in the first modern ...
with regular outings scheduled and a growing squad of Blues rowers, aiming to win. This was swiftly proven true two years later, in 1975 where the St Hugh's Women's First VIII bumped Magdalen M4. The St Hugh's W1 became the first and only women's boat to successfully bump a men's crew, a truly outstanding achievement. This event was the catalyst for the creation of the Women's divisions for Summer Eight's since 1976, where St Hugh's was a strong contender. It was only fours year later in 1979, where St Hugh's W1 was able to finally win the Boat Club's first Headship. Unfortunately, the crew was unable to hold onto headship and tumbled down the order during 1980-81. After two years of slipping down the order, the Boat Club was able to pick itself back up again by putting together a highly-talented and trained squad made up of many
Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
rowers. This women's crew was able to rapidly climb up the ranks, and finally restored the Boat Club to its former glory by winning Headship back again in 1982. This was continued by a string of dominant performances, with the Boat Club retaining Summer Eight's headship until 1984. The Boat Club was also able to win Torpids Headship in the Women's division in 1986.


Summer Eights Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main Colleges of the University of Oxford, intercollegiate Sport rowing, rowing event of the year. The regatta takes ...
honours


Torpids honours


Victories at internal and external regattas


Notable Alumni

SHBC alumni include American Olympic rower Anders Weiss who competed in
The Boat Race 2018 The Boat Race 2018 (also known as The Cancer Research UK Boat Race for sponsorship reasons) was a rowing competition that was held on 24 March 2018. Held annually, The Boat Race is a Rowing (sport)#Side by side, side-by-side rowing race between ...
. SHBC member Oskar Zorrilla coxed Oxford to victory in The Boat Race 2013. In The Boat Race 1982, SHBC member Boris Rankov won a record number of boat races competing as a rower which was recognised by
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
and which led to the so-called 'Rankov Rule'.


People associated with St Hugh's


Principals


Fellows


Notable alumni

File:Emily Wilding Davison by Andrew William Dron.jpg,
Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...
,
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
who fought for votes for women File:Mme Barbara Castle, Ministre britannique du développement outre-mer.jpg,
Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002) was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from 1945 United Kingdom general elec ...
, former Health Secretary File:Theresa May (2016) (cropped).jpg,
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
, former
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
File:NickyH&SJan10.jpg,
Nicky Morgan Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, (; born 10 October 1972) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, ...
, former Education Secretary File:Remise du Prix Sakharov à Aung San Suu Kyi Strasbourg 22 octobre 2013-18.jpg,
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
,
State Counsellor of Myanmar The State Counsellor of Myanmar () was the ''de facto'' head of government of Myanmar, equivalent to a prime minister, from 2016 to 2021. The office was created in 2016 after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 2015 Myanmar ...
File:Amal Clooney 01 (cropped).jpg,
Amal Clooney Amal Clooney (; born ) is a British International human rights law, international human rights lawyer. She has represented several high-profile clients, including former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, form ...
, Human Rights Barrister
St Hugh's students are present in all spheres of public life: In politics,
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
, former
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
;
Nicky Morgan Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, (; born 10 October 1972) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, ...
, former
Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...
; Rachel Maclean, former UK Housing Minister;
Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002) was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from 1945 United Kingdom general elec ...
, former Secretary of State; Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysian Government Minister; and
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
, the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
laureate and
State Counsellor of Myanmar The State Counsellor of Myanmar () was the ''de facto'' head of government of Myanmar, equivalent to a prime minister, from 2016 to 2021. The office was created in 2016 after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 2015 Myanmar ...
, studied at the college. Current members of the U.K. House of Lords include James O'Shaughnessy, Baron O'Shaughnessy, Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist, and Jo Valentine, Baroness Valentine. British diplomat Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby, ambassador to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
and former ambassador to
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, was educated at
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and St Hugh's.
Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...
, the
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
who famously died after being hit by the king's horse when she walked onto the track during the
1913 Epsom Derby The 1913 Epsom Derby, sometimes referred to as "The Suffragette Derby", was a horse racing, horse race which took place at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom Downs on 4 June 1913. It was the 134th running of the Epsom Derby, Derby. The race was won, c ...
race, enrolled at St Hugh's for one term to sit her
finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
. American Olympic rower Anders Weiss competed for Oxford University in the 2018 Boat Race. Polar expedition leader Alex Hibbert read biological sciences at St Hugh's, graduating in 2007. Notable alumni in business include
Louise Patten Louise Alexandra Virginia Charlotte Patten, Baroness Patten (born 2 February 1954) is a British businesswoman and author, who is the wife of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician John Patten, Baron Patten, John Patten and the grandd ...
, Philip J. K. James and Nate Morris. In the arts, the musician Joe Goddard (from electropop outfit Hot Chip) studied at St Hugh's. Conductors Jane Glover and Alice Farnham read music at St Hugh's, as did BBC arts broadcaster and writer Suzy Klein. TV writer Richard Hurst wrote his first play at St Hugh's. BAFTA Award-winning actress and comedian
Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...
began her career at the college, touring with the Oxford Revue in 1984. Writers Mary Renault, Lady Selina Hastings, Jane Ridley and Juliet Nicolson studied at St Hugh's, too. In science and academia, mathematical child prodigy Ruth Lawrence joined the college in 1983 aged 12. Dorothy Bishop, a psychologist specialising in developmental disorders, studied at St Hugh's. Other academics include sociologist and intelligence researcher Noah Carl; philosopher Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe; linguist and revivalist
Ghil'ad Zuckermann Ghil'ad Zuckermann (, ; ) is an Israeli-born language revivalist and linguist who works in contact linguistics, lexicology and the study of language, culture and identity. Zuckermann was awarded the Rubinlicht Prize (2023) "for his researc ...
; and mathematician Mary Cartwright. Another mathematician, Jillian Beardwood, known for her solution to the
travelling salesman problem In the Computational complexity theory, theory of computational complexity, the travelling salesman problem (TSP) asks the following question: "Given a list of cities and the distances between each pair of cities, what is the shortest possible ...
, graduated from St Hugh's with first-class honours in 1956. In law,
Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
judge and chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Heather Hallett, Baroness Hallett is a St Hugh's graduate. Other High Court Judges include Dame Jennifer Eady and Dame Florence Baron in London, the Honourable Madam Justice Maggie Poon in Hong Kong and
Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...
Recorder and former
Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...
President Oliver Campbell. Human rights barrister
Amal Clooney Amal Clooney (; born ) is a British International human rights law, international human rights lawyer. She has represented several high-profile clients, including former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, form ...
graduated with a BA degree in jurisprudence (Oxford's equivalent to the LLB) from St Hugh's.


References


More readings

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External links


Official website

Official JCR Website

Official MCR Website

Virtual Tour of St Hugh's College

Old Virtual Tour of St Hugh's College
''circa'' 2002
Gardening team's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Hugh's College, Oxford Colleges of the University of Oxford Universities and colleges established in 1886 Former women's universities and colleges in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford 1886 establishments in England