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17th November 1880, 140 years ago today, Edith Creak, Marianne Andrews, Elizabeth Hills, and Clara Collet were awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of London, the first women to graduate from a British university 
This image above is from Presentation Day at London in 1883. For such a notable event, there are no images of the first women in 1880 being presented their degree. The earliest is from May 1882 below. Why this is, is extremely interesting...
The University of London was the first British University to admit women to higher education, voting to open its courses to women in 1868. Nine women took the "General Examination" in 1869 https://london.ac.uk/news-and-opinion/leading-women/oh-pioneers-remembering-london-nine #HistEd
The first four women graduates studied for London degrees externally in places around the UK. Edith Creak was one of the original five students of @Newnham_College Cambridge in 1871, seen here with Anne Clough the first Principal #HistEd #twitterstorians https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53909/53909-h/53909-h.htm
The London Daily News announced the second and final BA exam results on 9th November 1880. Edith and Elizabeth are listed in the First Division, Marianne and Clara are in Second Division https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000051/18801109/050/0006
17th November 1880, the Senate of the University of London met and all candidates, including the first four women, who had passed the exams were awarded degrees in absentia. What happened next is rather... interesting
At London Uni, as today. Students are awarded degrees en masse in absentia. At a later date there's a big public ceremony, a Presentation of Graduates, originally in the Great Hall at King's College in 1850, then at @RoyalAlbertHall with robes, maces, trumpets etc
At the first ever presentation ceremony of women graduates in May 1881, the four received "a particularly enthusiastic" ovation, but they really stood out among the crowds of men because
they
didn't
wear
robes!
they
didn't
wear
robes!
In dress and fashion history, the reasons why people *don't* wear something can be as important as why they *do*
Was it a personal choice? A choice forced by others? Were robes not available for women? These are questions which invite further research
Was it a personal choice? A choice forced by others? Were robes not available for women? These are questions which invite further research
Before 1881 UK academic robes was the preserve of men only. For these women graduates there was "alarm taken in some quarters at the notion of any innovation in the matter of personal attire" and is likely why there is no image of the first women being presented their degrees
The alarm was soon quelled, and women did wear academic dress at the next ceremony in 1882. It was the first time women wore UK university hoods and gowns in public https://twitter.com/burgonsoc/status/1328640014574620672?s=20
During the early 20th century, as more women gained admission to degrees, academical dress became a powerful visual tool in the campaign for votes #HistEd #twitterstorians https://twitter.com/burgonsoc/status/1175685509101817856
Over the following years, robe makers offered hats and gowns adapted to fit over Victorian and Edwardian women’s clothes and hairstyles more easily. Some of the alterations were initiated by early women graduates themselves #dresshistory
Like this special item in our Archive: the original London University PhD robe! Claret superfine wool lined with Oxford MA crimson shot silk. It belonged to Dr Isabel Turnadge (nee Soar) BSc 1906; BSc (hons) 1917; PhD 1921, one of the 1st women in the UK to earn a PhD
So what became of those very first women graduates?
Edith Creak became the first Head of @KEHSBham "to Miss Creak belongs the honour of being a pioneer in the teaching of science to girls" https://oldeds.kehs.org.uk/old-edwardian-club/history-archives/1883-1910-miss-creak
Edith Creak became the first Head of @KEHSBham "to Miss Creak belongs the honour of being a pioneer in the teaching of science to girls" https://oldeds.kehs.org.uk/old-edwardian-club/history-archives/1883-1910-miss-creak
Marianne Andrews (1853-1924), studied at @UCL, she became a schoolmistress at Notting Hill High, a @GDST school, and later a school inspector. UCL have no memorial to Andrews, but @nhehs used to award a leaving scholarship in her name https://www.ucl.ac.uk/english/department/history-of-the-english-department
