The University Women's Club, originally the University Club for Ladies, is a British private members club founded in 1886. As the popular gentlemen's clubs did not accept any women as members, its creation was intended to provide an equivalent club accessible to women. By its own definition, it is a club for "graduate and professional women of varied backgrounds and interests". Members include lawyers, scientists, writers and musicians, as well as businesswomen.
The first meeting of the founders of the University Women's Club was held in 32 Portland Place at the home of Gertrude Jackson of Girton College, Cambridge on Saturday, 5 May 1883.[1] It was attended by approximately 60 ladies, predominantly from London and Cambridge, and the chair was taken by another Girtonian, Miss Louisa (later Dame Louisa) Lumsden.[2] On 17 July 1886, the membership of the "Association", as it had been called, reached their target number of 200 and the "University Club for Ladies" was officially founded. The members set out to locate a suitable premises and, in January 1887, it opened its doors on the 2nd and 3rd floors at 31 Bond Street.[3]
The primary requirements for admittance to the club were, initially, that applicants were graduates of any University or fully qualified medical practitioners. Considering that there were very few Universities that would admit women to degrees at this time, this was extended to include those with 1 year's residence at Oxford or Cambridge in the women's Halls or Colleges, a degree course at any University followed as far as the first examinations and, for students at the London School of Medicine for Women, a pass in the first professional examination of any Medical Corporation. This, unfortunately, left out the real pioneers who had led the charge to make higher education possible for women but very few of whom had any qualifications. The Club therefore extended an invitation to "ladies who had taken a prominent part in the education of women" to join as "special members",[1] which meant that among the early members were the first principals of nearly all the women's Colleges of Oxford, Cambridge and London.[2] A year later this allowance was amended to "ladies who have distinguished themselves in Art, Science, Literature or Philanthropy, or who have taken a prominent part in the promotion of education".[1] In 1899, a new category of membership, "Associate members", was introduced to extend the requirements beyond strictly academic criteria, leading to the entrance of Henrietta Jex-Blake, niece of the medical pioneer Sophie Jex-Blake. This criteria was later defined as women who "although not academically qualified for election, are, in the opinion of the committee, of equivalent standing" and then further amended to women "whose qualifications are deemed to be of an appropriate nature".
The club's first House Committee, composed of two honorary Officers (Secretary and Treasurer) and 12 members. Their names were:[1]
Hon Secretary: Miss G. E. M. Jackson, Girton – who continued to play a large role in the running of the club, both in a direct then more advisory capacity, until her death in September 1920.[1]
Hon. Treasurer: Miss Winkworth, Newnham (Mrs Lamb)
The Club remained in Bond Street for some years, but soon enough the rooms became too small to serve the purposes of the club, with Miss Jackson keen that the club also provide bedrooms for its members. Adding to this the plumbing problems of 32 Bond Street the committee began its search for new accommodations, looking first at Princes Street before signing the lease for 47 Maddox Street (with its one bedroom) and moving into the new premises in February 1894.[1][2]
They remained in Maddox Street for only 5 years, after looking at property in Grosvenor Street and Conduit Street The Club then turned their eyes to George Street, Hanover Square. The club had two successive addresses in George Street, the first at Number 32 which was still too small for their needs and the desire for larger quarters pushed the move to Number 4 in 1904, which had the benefit of more bedrooms and even a Smoking Room, where they remained until 1921.[2] By 1913, membership had grown to 797 members.[1] The club now has almost 1,000 members.[citation needed]
By 1919, the club had grown to the extent that larger premises were again considered. With "young persons of Newnham" looking for rooms to establish their own club and club membership having risen to 900, a meeting was called to discuss another move in the interests of the club, finally settling that when membership reached beyond 950 the matter be reviewed again.[1]
With the growth of the club to 945 members in 1920, new premises came under consideration. 5 Cavendish Square was seriously considered, but whilst members were being consulted the property was purchased for the Spanish Club. Premises in Lower Seymour Street and 13 Great Stanhope Street were also considered. Throughout 1920 a number of further properties were viewed, including some in Portland Place, Cavendish Square, Stratford Place, Upper Berkeley Street, Grosvenor Place and Manchester Square, until, finally, an Extraordinary General Meeting was called by the Committee on 21 April 1921 to approve the purchase of 2 Audley Square, inherited by Flora Russell in 1892 after the death of her father, then ratified in the names of B. A. Clough, H. F. Cohen and A. G. E. Carthew.[1] It was also at this time that the name of the club was changed from the "University Club for Ladies", and so, with the move to Audley Square, the club also became the "University Women's Club".[1]
2 Audley Square
The house was built by Lord Arthur Russell in about 1880 to house his large family: the architect was T. H. Wyatt.[4][5] The terrace and garden are now planted with green, white and violet plants, the colours associated with the Suffragette movement. A large London plane tree stands in the middle of the garden, probably originally planted in the grounds of Chesterfield House.
The property was purchased for £22,500, with a £15,000 mortgage to the Misses Russell. Within 2 months a Debenture issue had already raised £14,000 from the members and by 1924 the balance to the Misses Russell had been cleared, with the help of a loan of £10,00 from the Alliance Assurance Company. By 1932, the new mortgage had been paid off, and the club house was declared to be an unencumbered freehold, held in trust for the club, on behalf of the debenture holders.[2]
The club today
Today, the University Women's Club is the only women's club in the UK to be wholly owned and managed by its members.[citation needed][6]
Its event schedule includes many dinners and other social events.[citation needed][7]
In March 2014, Fiona Lazareff, a member of the committee, launched the annual Techpreneurs Awards on behalf of the club.[8][9][10]
The club has close ties with the East India Club, which occasionally co-organises functions for members of both clubs.
Members pay an initial joining fee and an annual subscription. Fees vary according to location and demographics in order to attract a wide range of members. Referral also plays a part: the club's website states "All prospective members must be proposed and seconded by a member in good standing."
Notable members
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2020)
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was an English physician and suffragist. She is known for being the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon and as a co-founder and dean of the London School of Medicine for Women, which was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. She was the first female dean of a British medical school, the first woman in Britain to be elected to a school board and, as mayor of Aldeburgh, the first female mayor in Britain.
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
Philippa Garrett Fawcett was an English mathematician and educator. She was the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. She taught at Newnham College, Cambridge, and at the normal school in Johannesburg, and she became an administrator for the London County Council.
Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake was an English physician, teacher, and feminist. She led the campaign to secure women access to a university education, when six other women and she, collectively known as the Edinburgh Seven, began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869. She was the first practising female doctor in Scotland, and one of the first in the wider United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; a leading campaigner for medical education for women, she was involved in founding two medical schools for women, in London and Edinburgh, at a time when no other medical schools were training women.
Louisa Stevenson was a Scottish campaigner for women's university education, women's suffrage and effective, well-organised nursing. She was the co-founder of Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University.
The Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women (EAUEW), originally known as the Edinburgh Ladies' Educational Association (ELEA), campaigned for higher education for women from 1867 until 1892 when Scottish universities started to admit female students. For nearly a quarter of a century it arranged its own classes for women with lecturers from Edinburgh University, and it was connected with a wider campaign across Europe to open universities to women students.
Isabel Jane Thorne was an early campaigner for medical education for women. Mrs Thorne, as she was known, was a member of the feminist Edinburgh Seven, who campaigned and succeeded in securing the right by statute for women to be educated to qualify as doctors. An exemplary Victorian, Thorne's dedication to duty and service was a precursor for the more violent campaigns of the suffragettes to achieve full enfranchisement for women.
The Alpine Club was founded in London on 22 December 1857 and is the world's first mountaineering club. The primary focus of the club is to support mountaineers who climb in the Alps and the Greater Ranges of the world's mountains.
Emily Elizabeth Constance Jones known as Constance Jones or E.E. Constance Jones, was an English philosopher and educator. She worked in logic and ethics and served as mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1903 to 1916.
Dame Jane Frances Dove, DBE, JP was an English women's campaigner, who founded the girls' schools, Wycombe Abbey and Godstowe.
Dame Bertha Surtees Phillpotts was an English scholar in Scandinavian languages, literature, history, archaeology and anthropology.
Dame Louisa Innes Lumsden was a Scottish pioneer of female education. Lumsden was one of the first five students Hitchen College, later Girton College, Cambridge in 1869 and one of the first three women to pass the Tripos exam in 1873. She returned as the first female resident and tutor to Girton in 1873.
Katharine Jex-Blake, was an English classical scholar, and the eighth Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge.
"Steamboat ladies" was a nickname given to a number of female students at the women's colleges of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge who were awarded ad eundem University of Dublin degrees at Trinity College Dublin, between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities refused to confer degrees upon women. The name comes from the means of transport commonly used by these women to travel to Dublin for this purpose.
The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists was founded in 1882 by eight female students of the Glasgow School of Art with the aim of affording due recognition to women in the field of art. It has been described by Jude Burkhauser as "the first residential club in Scotland run by and for women". In the early days of the club, they met at 136 Wellington Street, Glasgow.
The Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club, founded in October 1878, is a philosophy discussion group that meets weekly at the University of Cambridge during term time. Speakers are invited to present a paper with a strict upper time limit of 45 minutes, after which there is discussion for an hour. Several Colleges have hosted the Club: Trinity College, King's College, Clare College, Darwin College, St John's College, and from 2014 Newnham College.
Henrietta Maria Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley, was a British Canadian-born political hostess and campaigner for the education of women in England.
Elsie Matilda Maude Whetnall was a British analytic philosopher.
Henrietta Jex-Blake was a British violinist, and the principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, from 1909 to 1921.
Fiona Scott Lazareff is an activist and has created various campaigns to support social justice and women's entrepreneurship in technology.
References
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Carthew, A. G. E. (1936). The University Women's Club Extracts from Fifty Years of Minute Books 1886-1936 (2nded.). London, UK: The University Women's Club (published 1996).
1 2 3 4 5 Haselgrove, Evelyn (1994). University Women's Club: A History. London: University Women's Club.
↑ Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). London 6: Westminster. Buildings of England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. pp.572–73. ISBN978-0-300-09595-1.
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