Girton College, Cambridge

It was called the College for Women, and was located at Benslow House, Hitchin, a town in Hertfordshire, England. The first group of students were known as The Pioneers. In 1872 the present site, located about two and a half miles northwest of the centre of Cambridge, next to the village of Girton was purchased; the College was then renamed Girton College, and opened at the new location in October of 1873.

Over the years, many additions have considerably expanded the size of the college, most recently the award-winning library extension. Numerically and geographically, Girton is now one of the largest Colleges in Cambridge. However, the geographical separation means that the majority of people socialise within the College to a greater extent than at most other Colleges, which is said to create a distinctive, even cosy, atmosphere that is well renowned throughout the University. Girton also proudly houses an Egyptian mummy named "Hermione", and is the only Cambridge college to have its own indoor heated swimming pool.

On April 27, 1948, women were admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge, and Girton College received the status of a College of the University. However, to remember the time when women were not allowed to obtain degrees of the University of Cambridge, no gowns are worn during the college feast, when students in their final year are celebrated.

The college became mixed in 1977 with the arrival of the first male Fellows; male undergraduates have been admitted since 1979.

Although the main site for Girton is about 2.5 miles northwest of the city centre, there is an accommodation annexe, Wolfson Court, situated next to the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, in the western suburbs, but within easy walking distance of the University Library and downtown. Although the rooms in Wolfson are relatively small, they are far more conveniently located near the town centre.

Girtonians are known for their chant of "We are Girton - super Girton! No one likes us, but we don't care!", in imitation of Millwall F.C. fans' famous song. The reference to "no one likes us" is regarded to be due to the relative distance of Girton in comparison to many of the other colleges. Anecdotes about the distance of Girton from other Cambridge colleges are plentiful, for example that, by popular legend, more Cambridge students have visited Delhi than Girton college.

In the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Utopia, Limited, a principal character, Princess Zara, is returning from her studies at Girton, and her entrance is heralded by a song called "Oh, maiden rich in Girton lore." In an earlier G&S opera, Princess Ida, the princess founds a women's university, and the subject of women's education in the Victorian era is broadly explored and travestied.

In 2004, The Sun newspaper suggested that Girton College was 'now trendy'^{[citation needed]}.

The Girton Pioneers (tune of The British Grenadiers), 1871, honours the first three women to sit the Tripos exams

Girton College Hall

Eliza Baker Court

Hall from Cloister Court

The pool, before its recent refurbishment

1 Notable alumni
2 See also
3 Institutions named after Girton College
4 Further reading

Name	Birth	Death	Career
Sujo Akoni			Comedian
Hertha Marks Ayrton	1854	1923	Electrical engineer
Margaret Canovan	1939		Professor of political theory
Isabel Cooper-Oakley	1853	1914	Theosophical writer
Delia Derbyshire	1937	2001	Musician, composer
Brenda Hale	1945		Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Jessie Isabel Hetherington			New Zealand educator
Rosalyn Higgins	1937		President of the International Court of Justice
Arianna Huffington	1950		Political author and activist
Wendy Holden	1965		Novelist
Dorothy Jewson	1884	1964	British politician
Julie Kirkbride	1960		British politician
Rosamond Lehmann	1901	1990	Novelist
Sheila Scott Macintyre	1910	1960	Mathematician
Ada Isabel Maddison			Mathematician
Margrethe II of Denmark	1940		Queen Regnant of Denmark
Dorothy Marshall			Historian, educator
Annie Maunder			Astronomer
Anna Maxted	1969		Novelist
Constance Maynard			British feminist, educator
Terry Murphy			Co-founder of seminal lounge-tinged electro outfit Moogtastic
Sarojini Naidu	1879	1949	Poet, politician
Joseph O'Neill	1964		Novelist, non-fiction writer
Sheila Pim			Author
Audrey Price			Chemist
Emily James Smith Putnam			Educator, historian
Gisela Richter	1882	1972	Classical archaeologist, art historian
Joan Robinson	1903	1983	Economist
Diana Ross	1910	2000	Author
Clara Ruth Rouse			Missionary, ecumenical leader
Ethel Sargant	1863	1918	Botanist
Charlotte Angas Scott	1858	1931	Mathematician
Irene Spry	1907	1998	Economic historian
Alice Stewart	1906	2002	Epidemiologist
Marilyn Strathern	1941		Social Anthropologist
Steph Swainston	1974		Writer
Bertha Swirles	1903	1999	Physicist
Princess Takamado	1953		Princess of Japan
Sandi Toksvig	1958		Comedian
Renee Winegarten			Literary critic
Barbara Adam Wootton	1897	1988	Social scientist, economist
Dorothy Wrinch	1894	1976	Mathematical biologist
Grace Chisholm Young	1868	1944	Mathematician