Dame Emily Penrose, DBE, Hon. LL.D was Principal at Somerville College, Oxford University from 1906 until 1926.
Miss Penrose—she never married—was emblematic of "the history of women in Oxford [as] one of 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'" ... [i]t was 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 then Principal [Emily Penrose] (Somerville College website)".
Dame Emily's great life is commemorated with her place on the wall in the Somerville College Chapel. In this privileged and prominent position she is bookmarked by fellow ex-principals of the former girl-only college. During her time as Principal of Somerville College she was also principal of Royal Holloway College. Dame Emily was the principal of Somerville College at the time of Vera Brittain's going up to Oxford.
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