Her Oxford

14. Weathering Storms

216 14 Weathering Storms D uring the turbulent 1920s, the Oxford women’s colleges were bedeviled by more than financial problems. An administrative    crisis at St. Hugh’s would threaten the stability of all the women ’s societies, and a proposal to limit the number of women students would highlight their still marginal status in the university. As in the other women’s colleges, the number of students at St. Hugh’s increased dramatically after the war, far beyond the college’s capacity to house them under one roof. The building completed in 1916 could accommodate 71 students (there were 64 in college at that time), but by 1923, numbers had shot up to 151. Although the college purchased the leases of three nearby houses to cope with the overflow, some students had to be lodged in other North Oxford homes under the care of hostesses, much like the Home-Students. Why did St. Hugh’s accept so many more students than it could comfortably accommodate? For one thing, more young women wanted to attend Oxford than ever before, and the college, in common with the other women’s societies, badly needed the additional fees that increased numbers would bring. For another, despite the Mordan legacy, St. Hugh’s had acquired a heavy debt for its 1916 building program, and its principal, Eleanor Jourdain, did not feel she could afford to turn away qualified students who wanted to attend. Still, her problems were not very different from those of the other women principals—all had to cope with burgeoning numbers, shortage of space, and lack of money. Given these pressures, therefore, Miss Jourdain appeared to be an able administrator who had successfully negotiated her college’s removal to new premises at a time when the war made all business and financial transactions difficult. She was also a scholar with a French doctorate and seemed more the embodiment of what a college principal should be at this period than her thoroughly Victorian predecessor. Those with more intimate knowledge of St. Hugh’s knew, however, that all was not well. Weathering Storms 217 Crisis at St. Hugh’s Inside the college, Miss Jourdain was not universally admired. Some of the younger staff members chafed under her refusal to delegate any power. Even Joan Evans, who always remained loyal to Miss Jourdain, admitted that she was an autocrat. In truth, Miss Jourdain often acted as if she were still headmistress of a private school rather than as a college principal, and she could not accept that those below her in rank had any right to question her authority. For some time, she and Cecilia Ady, history tutor and former vice-principal, had been at odds. When Miss Ady was appointed tutor in 1909, she and Eleanor Jourdain remained for many years on affectionate terms, but the relationship had gradually deteriorated to the point where Miss Jourdain perceived Miss Ady as a threat to her sovereignty. Cecilia Ady was part of a growing movement among tutors for more rights and privileges within their colleges, and she and other St. Hugh’s tutors were in favor of a new constitution that would precisely define their status. Although Miss Jourdain agreed in theory that the government of St. Hugh’s should come to resemble that of the men’s colleges, in practice she did not like her tutors to manifest such an independent spirit. Believing Miss Ady to be the chief instigator, the principal requested that Miss Ady cease to be a resident tutor. Miss Ady moved out, but as her mother’s house was just across the road from the college, she remained involved with activities in the senior common room. Throughout the fall term of 1923, the hostility between Miss Jourdain and some of her tutors was apparent, and the principal escalated the conflict on November 19. She asked Miss Ady to see her on college business that morning, and the tutor arrived to find the chair and secretary of the council also present. Miss Jourdain then accused Miss Ady of disloyalty and said she would not recommend her reappointment. When asked to resign, Miss Ady adamantly refused to do so and declared she would appeal to the council as a whole at its regular meeting in five days’ time. The principal made clear to the chair that she intended to press for Miss Ady’s dismissal at the upcoming meeting and that she herself would resign if council overrode her wishes. Rachel Trickett...