Emily Penrose
Emily Penrose Somerville College, Oxford | |
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Academic work | |
Institutions | Bedford College, London, Royal Holloway College, Somerville College |
Dame Emily Penrose,
Family and early life
Emily Penrose was born in London in 1858. She was the second of five siblings, and oldest daughter of Francis Cramer Penrose and his wife Harriette Gibbes, the daughter of Francis Gibbes, a surgeon of Harewood in West Yorkshire. Her paternal grandmother was the author Elizabeth Penrose, who published under the name Mrs Markham.[1]
Private education
Penrose studied in a private school in Wimbledon before studying languages in Versailles, Paris, Dresden and Berlin.[2]: 93 She also trained as an artist with her father;[3] a watercolour of the Parthenon attributed to her is in the collection of the British Museum.[4]
Life in Athens
She lived with her family in Athens during 1886–87 while her father was director of the British School, during which time she kept a diary detailing her life in Athens and travels around Greece,[1][2]: 93 [3][5][6] and learned modern Greek.[1]
Her diary from this period, now held at the British School, records her participation in the academic and social life of Athens, especially that of the foreign archaeological schools (which included the British School, the American School of Classical Studies, the German Archaeological Institute, and the French School).[5][6] The British School also has at least one watercolour painting probably by her.[3]
Classics scholar
Penrose read for her degree at
: 93As women were not able to gain a degree from the University of Oxford at that time, she was awarded an
Career
Upon completing her undergraduate studies, Penrose was offered a post by
Penrose then moved in 1898 to Royal Holloway College to become the college's second principal, following Matilda Bishop who had been its first. Bishop's resignation followed disagreement about Sunday Services with the college governors.[2]: 85 During Penrose's time as principal, the students' social life developed as their numbers increased,[2]: 101 even though Penrose had an unexpected weakness of shyness.[2]: 93 In her history of the college Caroline Bingham argued that "Penrose, in a formative decade, set the college on the path which it would follow successfully".[2]: 115 She was instrumental in gaining the college admission to the newly formed University of London in 1900.[2]: 96 This change led to increasing numbers of students studying for and being awarded London degrees, and a movement away from studying Oxford courses (where the female students at Royal Holloway were not allowed to receive degrees, but instead received only a notification that they had completed the class).[2]: 82, 97 In her final year as principal at Royal Holloway, eight of the students were awarded First Class University of London degrees[2]: 100 Penrose was also the chairman of the classical board and a member of the senate council of the University of London.[1] Penrose was followed as principal at Royal Holloway by Ellen Charlotte Higgins.[2]: 9
In 1907 Penrose was appointed as Principal of
Penrose's work for women's education had her involved in multiple national committees on education: she became a member of the
Service in World War I and retirement
During her time as Principal of Somerville, Penrose presided over many changes, including plans for new buildings, major constitutional changes and temporary accommodation of the college in Oriel College during World War I.[1]
She had responsibility for a range of war-time roles, including organization of the
Legacy
The success of the 1920 campaign to admit women as full members of the University of Oxford owed much to the diplomatic skills and academic reputation of Penrose. Somerville's Penrose building, opened in 1934, is named after her.
A 1946 obituary of Penrose concluded on her qualities, "For all her masculine powers and feminine accomplishments, her great qualities were neither masculine nor feminine, but simply those that belong to great persons."[7]: 121
Penrose was the subject of numerous photographs[17] and portraits, including by Francis William Helps,[18] Philip de László,[19] and the Rhomaides Brothers.[3][20]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Penrose, Dame Emily, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; accessed 2011-06-21.(subscription required)
- ^ ISBN 0-09-468200-3.
- ^ a b c d "Emily Penrose's Diary: British School at Athens in 1887". The British School at Athens. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ "drawing | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Hidden Histories: Series 2 Episode 1 – Emily Penrose". The British School at Athens. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Hidden Histories: Series Episode 2 – Emily Penrose (ii)". The British School at Athens. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brittain, Vera (1960). The Women at Oxford. London: George G. Harrap & Co. ltd.
- ^ "A Timeline of the History of Women in Trinity". A Century of Women in Trinity College. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0826516107.
- ^ "Bedford College Papers". JISC Archives Hub. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ a b Tuke, Margaret Janson (1939). A History of Bedford College for Women, 1849-1937. London: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Prescott, Barbara (2016). "Dorothy L. Sayers and the Mutual Admiration Society:Friendship and Creative Writing in an Oxford Women's Literary Group" (PDF). Proceedings of the 10thFrances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends: 1–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Somerville College Pages 343-347 A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3, the University of Oxford". British History Online. Victoria County History, 1954. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ISBN 9780199201792.
- ^ "Obituary - Dame Emily Penrose". The Times. 28 January 1942.
- ^ "University News". The Times. 11 February 1927.
- ^ "Dame Emily Penrose - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Emily Penrose, Principal (1907–1926) | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Dame Emily Penrose (1858–1942) | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Dame Emily Penrose by the Romaidai - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2020.