Vanessa Harding
Vanessa Harding knew nothing about St Andrews until she arrived on the sleeper at the start of term in autumn 1970. ‘It looked like a nice place to be, and I knew people who were there. It’s the kind of decision you…
Search by author: Aileen Fyfe
A brief history of women historians at St Andrews
From 1877 onwards, the innovative St Andrews LLA qualification enabled women from across the UK (and beyond) to be examined and certified to degree level, at a time when few universities were willing to award degrees…
Edith MacQueen and the Challenges of Academic Job-Hunting, 1930s-1960s
The career trajectory of Edith MacQueen – the first woman to obtain a PhD in History at the University of St. Andrews – poses a certain paradox: a woman of high academic standing, she possessed the right credentials…
Sue Hill remembers medieval history… with cucumber sandwiches
In the 1970s it was a truth universally acknowledged that most people from Dumfries Academy – my secondary school – went on to Glasgow University to study. I might very well have done the same (writes Sue Hill, MA…
Valerie Torgerson
Valerie Torgerson Waddelove graduated from St Andrews with an MA in Medieval History in 1970. This is an edited extract from her contribution to the Alumni Chronicle in 2020. How can it possibly be 50 years since I…
Janet Low (d.1962)
As far as we know, the first woman to teach History formally within the University was Janet Low. She was one of several people, men and women, appointed during the First World War as ‘Temporary Lecturers and…
Anne Wright (1924-1981)
Anne Margaret Chaloner Wright had a life-long connection to St Andrews. She was born here, the daughter of an academic; was educated here; and spent the last 15 years of her life as Warden of Hamilton Hall and lecturer…
History graduates: statistics 1900-1975
Just one student graduated with Honours in History in 1900; by 1975, the graduating class had grown to 59 students. We know this, because the University of St Andrews ‘Calendars’, published annually, contained lists of…
Caroline Doris Ketelbey (1896-1990)
Doris Ketelbey was the first woman to hold a long-term position as member of staff in History at St Andrews [read about other early women staff]. She was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in 1935; and retired as…
Early women lecturers
When we began this project, we thought we knew that the old department of Mediaeval History had a better track-record of appointing women than the old department of Modern History. Local memory ‘knew’ about the…