Steamboat ladies

"Steamboat ladies" was a nickname given to a number of female students at the women's colleges of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge who were awarded ad eundem University of Dublin degrees at Trinity College Dublin, between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities refused to confer degrees upon women.^[1] The name comes from the means of transport commonly used by these women to travel to Dublin for this purpose.^[1]

Trinity admitted female students in 1904. Unlike Oxford and Cambridge, where women had for some years been admitted to separate female colleges within the overall university, both men and women were admitted to the University of Dublin's only college (Trinity) and it was felt there would be no rationale to restrict successful female students from graduating to become members of the university like their male counterparts. In accordance with the long-standing formula of ad eundem mutual recognition that existed between Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, Anthony Traill, the then-Provost of Trinity College, proposed that eligible female Oxbridge course completers be granted Trinity degrees, as was the case for men.^[2] The policy lasted from June 1904 to December 1907, when requirements for ad eundem awards were revised.^[2]

The Board of Trinity College thought that only small numbers of women would take up the offer to graduate and that they would be Irish women who had studied in Oxford or Cambridge colleges.^[3] In fact, by 1907 Trinity had granted degrees to some 720 "steamboat ladies".^[3] All had passed examinations at Oxbridge that would have earned them a degree if they were male.^[3] The women were predominantly students of Girton and Newnham Colleges, Cambridge and Somerville College, Oxford.^[2]

Money derived from the degree conferral fees that female graduates paid during this period was largely ring-fenced and was used to fund the purchase of Trinity Hall, an extramural hall of residence for female students, which opened in 1908.

Notable steamboat ladies

Julia Bell^[4] (1879–1979), human geneticist
Dorothy Brock DBE^[5] (1886–1969), educationist and headmistress
Sara Burstall^[5] (1859–1939), educationist and headmistress
Frances Dove DBE, JP^[5] (1847–1942), teacher and headmistress
Gertrude Elles MBE^[5] (1872–1960), geologist
Lilian Faithfull CBE, JP^[5] (1865–1952), teacher and headmistress
Philippa Fawcett^[5] (1868–1948), mathematician and educationalist
Florence Gadesen^[5] (1853–1934), teacher and headmistress
Ethel Gavin^[5] (1866–1918), educationist and headmistress
Frances Ralph Gray^[5] (1861–1935), teacher and headmistress
Hilda Phoebe Hudson (1881–1965) mathematician who worked on algebraic geometry, in particular on Cremona transformations.
Ruth Herbert Lewis (1871-1946), social reformer and folk-song collector
Katharine Jex-Blake^[5] (1860–1951), classicist and teacher
Lilian Knowles^[5] (1870–1926), historian and professor of economic history
Penelope Lawrence^[5] (1856–1932), educator
Ellen McArthur^[5] (1862–1927), economic historian
Edith Major^[5] (1867–1951), educationist and headmistress
Emily Penrose DBE^[5] (1858–1942), classicist and educationalist
Bertha Phillpotts DBE^[5] (1877–1932), linguist, historian and educationalist
Eleanor Rathbone^[5] (1872–1946), suffragist, social reformer and member of parliament
Shena Simon^[5] (1883–1972), politician, feminist, educationalist and writer
Eugénie Sellers Strong CBE^[5] (1860–1943), archaeologist and art historian
Margaret Tuke^[5] (1862–1947), academic and educator
Katharine Wallas CBE^[5] (1864–1944), politician and educationalist
Mary Hay Wood^[5] (1868–1934), educationist

References

^ ^a ^b "A Timeline of the History of Women in Trinity". A Century of Women in Trinity College. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b Rayner-Canham, Marelene F.; Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey (1 January 2008). Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneering British Women Chemists, 1880-1949. Imperial College Press. ISBN 9781860949876.
^ Parkes, Susan M. (2004). A danger to the men? : a history of women in Trinity College Dublin 1904–2004. Dublin: Lilliput Press. ISBN 1843510405. OCLC 55008150.
^ Harper, Peter S. (24 October 2008). A Short History of Medical Genetics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199720132.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Parkes, Susan M. "Steamboat ladies (act. 1904–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 January 2011.

Sources

Burek, Cynthia V.; Bettie Higgs (2007). The Role of Women in the History of Geology. Geological Society of London. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-86239-227-4..
Parkes, Susan M. (2004). A Danger to the Men?: A History of Women in Trinity College Dublin 1904-2004. Lilliput Press. pp. 75, 90. ISBN 1-84351-040-5..
Parkes, Susan M. "Steamboat ladies". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 April 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Susan M. Parkes, « Trinity College, Dublin and the “Steamboat Ladies”, 1904–1907 », in Mary R. Masson & Deborah Simonton, Women and higher education: past, present and future, Aberdeen University Press, 1996, 352 p. (ISBN 1857522605), p. 244–250.
Furey, Molly (8 April 2020). "In 1904, the 'Steamboat Ladies' Kicked Off a Trinity Equality Battle. It's Still Going". The University Times.

[:0-1] "A Timeline of the History of Women in Trinity". A Century of Women in Trinity College. Retrieved 8 March 2017.

[:1-2] Rayner-Canham, Marelene F.; Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey (1 January 2008). Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneering British Women Chemists, 1880-1949. Imperial College Press. ISBN 9781860949876.

[3] Parkes, Susan M. (2004). A danger to the men? : a history of women in Trinity College Dublin 1904–2004. Dublin: Lilliput Press. ISBN 1843510405. OCLC 55008150.

[4] Harper, Peter S. (24 October 2008). A Short History of Medical Genetics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199720132.

[odnb-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Parkes, Susan M. "Steamboat ladies (act. 1904–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 January 2011.

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