First female students admitted to University of Oxford degree courses

Background. The Association for the Higher Education of Women formed in June 1878 to create a college for women in Oxford. After Moncure Conway offered a large sum toward a secular women's college, some Anglican members sought to endow an Anglican college instead; the established church was concerned that University College London, the first university to admit women, would lead "advanced women" away from Christianity. Lady Margaret Hall was founded in 1878, collaborating closely with Somerville College.

Early Operations. Lady Margaret Hall opened its doors in 1879 with nine students. The first 21 students from Somerville and Lady Margaret Hall attended lectures in rooms above a baker's shop on Little Clarendon Street. This arrangement highlighted the lack of dedicated facilities and the reliance on temporary spaces for academic instruction during the initial years.

Degree Status. Before 1920, the University of Oxford refused to grant academic degrees to women or acknowledge them as full members. Some women, nicknamed the steamboat ladies, received ad eundem degrees from Trinity College Dublin between 1904 and 1907. In 1920, the first women graduated from Lady Margaret Hall at the Sheldonian Theatre, and principal Henrietta Jex-Blake received an honorary degree.