Celebrating 175 years since the founding of Bedford College

If you couldn’t join us on the day, a recording of the talk given by Professor Caroline Barron (Bedford College History staff from 1965) and Dr Claire Gobbi Daunton (BA History, 1974) on the founding of the college in Bedford Square is available online here. 

A short film showing attendees at this event is available to watch here. 

An opportunity to celebrate by returning to the former Bedford College site in Regent’s Park. There were short talks, involving current and former staff and students, on the founding principles of the college and how they remain relevant to today, then afternoon tea and tours of the building, once so familiar to us.

You can watch a recording of the talks online here. 

This was a wonderful opportunity to join the annual Heritage Open Day on the Royal Holloway campus, Egham. This year there was an additional focus on the academic work and life of Bedford College, through talks and displays alongside the regular heritage day activities and tours. There was also a reception for Bedfordians, giving an opportunity to meet up with fellow alumni and former staff. 

You can watch a recording here. 

The opportunity to explore University of London Archive material relevant to Bedford College held at Senate House was exciting enough but the experience was enhanced by the superb presentations about the Bedford and University of London Archives.

We met at 11 Bedford Square for tea and coffee and the chance to introduce ourselves to each other and catch up with those we had met before. It was so nice to recognise other alumni who had attended previous 175th anniversary events during the year.

Dr Naomi Lebens and Anne-Marie Purcell, the Culture Team at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, gave a fascinating presentation in the Bedford Room about the contents and uses of the Bedford Archive, (a link to which is available below). Of particular note, were a document showing many male signatories to a petition in favour of admitting women to medical degrees and a letter discussing the theory of relativity written in German and dated 4th July 1949, from Albert Einstein to Dr Wilson who was the then Head of Physics at Bedford College.

We heard about the further work that is needed to be undertaken, which could be achieved a lot quicker if we manage to raise enough money through the 175th Anniversary appeal to employ a dedicated Bedford Archivist, it inspired me to make a Christmas donation. At the end of the presentation there is information about how to access the Bedford Archive online and in person.

We then walked over to Senate House to hear from Angharad Eyre, who is a researcher at University of London with a special interest in the historic development of higher education for women. This interest had obviously heavily involved the history of Bedford College and it was Angharad who was the original instigator of the day’s activities. Angharad has kindly given us a copy of her talk, list of the Archive material presented and PDF of her presentation, (links available below). Particularly fascinating were the number of Bedford scarves visible in the photos of University of London students out carol singing and the varied newspaper articles demonstrating changing social attitudes.

Her talk was both amusing and informative and perfect preparation for our subsequent hands-on experience of the Archive articles and a tour of the Senate House building, before which we were addressed by the current Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Thompson, who gave us a warm welcome.

During the tour we saw the recently installed portrait of Dame Lillian Penson, Vice-Chancellor of University of London 1948-51, the first woman to become Vice-Chancellor of a university in the UK. This portrait was commissioned by the current V-C and painted from an old black and white photograph. We are hopeful that something similar can be achieved of Elizabeth Jesser-Reid, since no portrait currently exists of her. Other highlights included a beautiful hand painted mural depicting central London and beyond, including the locations and emblems of all the London Colleges and the Charles Holden models depicting the history of Senate house.

N.B. We have since learned that alumni of all University of London colleges are now able to register as alumni of University of London, which includes the right to use the library for reference for free. Details are available on the University of London website: www.london.ac.uk

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting day out which some of us finished off with lunch in the newly refurbished restaurant in the basement of Senate House, which lived up to its excellent reviews.

Betty Hales
(Physics 1973)

Read the presentation slides: Archives of Bedford College

Read the presentation slides: Bedford College and the University of London

Notes from the University of London Presentation

Archive notes from the University of London Presentation