Emily Davies
The stubborn strategist of British feminism who founded Cambridge's first women's college, forcing open the doors of university education.
1830–1921 (age 91)·English feminist and suffragist·Birthday: April 22
Biography
Emily Davies did not storm barricades; she built institutions. A figure of formidable intellect and quiet determination, she understood that symbolic gestures were less powerful than creating permanent facts on the ground. Appalled by the exclusion of women from higher education, she orchestrated a meticulous campaign. She collected signatures, lobbied powerful men, and raised funds pound by pound. Her masterstroke was Girton College, established in 1869 outside Cambridge. It began humbly, with just five students, but its existence was a radical challenge to centuries of tradition. Davies insisted on a crucial point: her students would follow the exact same curriculum and sit the same exams as the men, a principle of equality over special treatment. She also tirelessly campaigned for the vote, co-founding influential societies that kept pressure on Parliament. Her legacy is not a single dramatic victory, but the solid, brick-and-mortar foundation upon which generations of British women scholars have stood.
#1 When Emily Was Born
The biggest hits of 1830
Emily's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1830Born
1835Started school
1843Became a teenager
1846Could drive
1848Could vote
1851Turned 21
1860Turned 30
1870Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1880Turned 50
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1890Turned 60
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Turned 70
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1910Turned 80
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1921Died at 91
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
Key Achievements
- Founded Girton College, Cambridge, in 1869, the first residential college for women in England.
- Co-founded the Kensington Society in 1865, a key discussion group that launched the first organized campaign for women's suffrage.
- Successfully campaigned for women to be allowed to sit the University of Cambridge Local Examinations in 1863.
- Served as Mistress of Girton College and later as its honorary secretary, shaping its academic standards for decades.
Did You Know?
She initially opposed the idea of women becoming doctors, a cause championed by her friend Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, fearing it would hinder the broader education campaign.
The first Girton College building was called Benslow House, located in Hitchin, before moving to its permanent Cambridge site.
She edited the 'English Woman's Journal', a publication central to the mid-19th century women's movement.
Despite her work for women's education, she was a known anti-suffragist in her early years before becoming a leading campaigner.
“The world will not say, 'She was a brilliant scholar,' but, 'She opened the door.'”
