Our history

Royal Holloway was founded by two Victorian social pioneers, both of whom established colleges to make a difference in the world. They understood the life-changing opportunities afforded by education, and were inspired to make those benefits available to women, who were excluded from attending university at the time. They championed inclusivity and academic excellence, and those principles still underpin everything we do today. Find out about our historic discoveries, notable alumni and academic innovation by visiting royalholloway.ac.uk/ about-us/our-history

1849

Bedford College is founded by Elizabeth Jesser Reid as the UK’s first higher education college for women Early students include the novelist George Eliot, famed for Middlemarch, and the first woman doctor, Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, who trained nurses in the American Civil War

1860

Sarah Parker Remond, the slavery abolitionist and early African American female physician, is a student

1886

Royal Holloway College, founded by Thomas and Jane Holloway, is opened by HM Queen Victoria

1894

Students include the suffragette martyr Emily Wilding Davison, who died at the Epsom Derby in 1913, the pioneering woman surgeon, Dr Louisa Martindale CBE, and her sister, Hilda Martindale CBE, who argued for equal pay and rights for women

1900

Both Bedford and Royal Holloway Colleges are admitted to the University of London

1912

Margaret Benson becomes Professor of Botany at Royal Holloway College, the first female science professor in the country

1944

Sir William Hunter McCrea becomes Head of Mathematics at Royal Holloway. His discovery that the sun is composed mainly of hydrogen leads to the development of the Big Bang Theory

1985

Royal Holloway and Bedford New College opens following the merger of the two colleges. HM Queen Elizabeth II inaugurates the new College the following year

2012

We are the Olympic Village for Rowing, and our graduate Sophie Christiansen CBE wins three Paralympic Gold Medals. Our particle physicists contribute to the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle

2017

HRH The Princess Royal visits to officially open the Emily Wilding Davison Building, containing our Library and Student Services Centre

2019

Professor Dame Ann Dowling, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, officially opens the Beatrice Shilling Building, a fantastic technology-led facility designed to develop a creative approach to study, collaboration and research