St Anne’s College was originally known as the Society of Oxford Home-Students. When the first two colleges for women (Somerville Hall and Lady Margaret Hall) opened to students in 1879, the Society provided an option for women to study at Oxford without being affiliated with a college.
Students lived with relations or in lodgings around the city, with a Common Room on Ship Street being the only central location. A permanent site on Woodstock Road was purchased in 1937, and Hartland House was built to house the Society’s Library and staff offices.
In 1942, the Home-Students changed their name to St Anne's Society and in 1952 the Society received its Royal Charter to become St Anne’s College. The Woodstock Road site has continued to expand, with the addition of a dining hall and student accommodation as the Society transitioned to a residential college. The College became co-educational in 1979.
The archive consists of the administrative records of the Society and the College, including material on the early years of women’s education in Oxford and the papers of Annie Rogers (1856-1937) and Bertha Johnson (1846-1927). There are further papers deposited by fellows and alumnae and a collection of artistic depictions of Saint Anne.
Much of the material is not catalogued in detail, but the Archive website contains listings of the main collections: https://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/life-here/library/archives/
Access to the archives is by appointment only. In the first instance please contact the Archivist or you can fill out the web form on the Archive website if there are specific items you would like to view.
Archivist: Matthew Chipping
Opening hours: Thursdays, Fridays and alternate Wednesdays (by appointment only)
Address: St Anne’s College, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6HS
E-mail: archives@st-annes.ox.ac.uk
Further Reading:
Ruth Florence Butler and M H Prichard, Saint Anne's College: A History (Oxford, Privately Published, 1957)
Marjorie Reeves, St Anne's College, Oxford: An Informal History (Oxford: St Anne's College, 1979)
