by Heathcliff Newman
Bedford College was the first institute of higher education for women in the UK and forms one-half of the current Royal Holloway and Bedford New College since the two colleges merged in 1985. 2024 marked the 175th anniversary of its founding, and Royal Holloway and The Bedford Society, comprised of dedicated Bedford alums and staff, had a fantastic year of events to mark the occasion.
Events included a gathering at Regent’s University London, the former site of Bedford College from 1913 - 1985, where Bedford Society members and current college staff shared memories and research inspired by the ‘First Principles’ of Bedford College’s ambitious beginnings. This year’s Heritage Open Day further focused on the History of Bedford College, including a mini-exhibition entitled ‘Adventurers All: Bedford Travel Stories’ by RHUL Cultural Services Doctoral Placement Students Gareth Hughes and Heathcliff Newman and a gathering of The Bedford Society where stories from the Bedford College Archive were shared. Details of these events and recordings of talks can be found on the Bedford 175 webpages:
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/our-alumni/for-alumni/alumni-groups/the-bedford-society/celebrating-175-years-since-the-founding-of-bedford-college/
The final event was held on the 2nd of December 2024 and organised by the Royal Holloway Centre for Victorian Studies with support from the English Department, Alumni Relations Office, and Archive and Special Collections Service. The event brought together 12 Bedford College alums and 12 current Royal Holloway students to share memories of student life, learn more about the similarities and differences of the student experience across generations, and contribute to the ongoing work of transcribing the extensive collection of letters written to Elizabeth Jesser Reid (the founder of Bedford College) held in the Bedford College Archive. More information on the ‘Elizabeth Jesser Reid Letters’ project can be found at this link: https://ejrletters.omeka.net/
In the morning, the event centred on an intergenerational memory-sharing session, led by CVS Director Dr Helen Kingstone, where students and alumni explored and discussed fascinating materials from the archive that had been selected by our archivist Anne-Marie Purcell. In the afternoon, we gained training on reading and transcribing nineteenth-century handwriting from Dr Katie McGettigan of the English Department, before undertaking some ourselves, producing complete transcriptions of 12 previously un-transcribed letters to Elizabeth Jesser Reid from her lifelong best friend Eliza Bostock.
The event proved extremely valuable to alumni and current students. Questionnaire results from before and after the event showed that in response to the statement ‘I think that older and younger generations have a lot in common’, two participants who selected ‘Disagree’ beforehand had changed their opinion to ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’ by the end of the day. Bedford alumni further commented on the value of meeting current students and working as a team to complete the transcriptions, whilst current RHUL students shared how much they enjoyed learning of their college’s history. Students found the discovering of similarities across generations to be of great emotional benefit, and saw how the event would support their academic pursuits - particularly for the RHUL History Module ‘Modern Girls - Women in Twentieth-Century Britain.’
The intergenerational discussions included an emotive conversation in which alumni celebrated the close social frameworks of their student experience (with regular shared meals in the dining hall, and the common room serving as a community hub), and current students reflected on the pros and cons of larger student numbers and self-catered accommodation in modern universities, where separate daily routines can risk potential loneliness. All saw events like this one as routes towards a continued and greater sense of community, and expressed enthusiasm for the longstanding Bedford College motto: To be, rather than to seem.
The Centre for Victorian Studies is grateful for financial support from the RHUL English Department and Alumni Relations Office and for support in kind from the Cultural Services Team.
