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ALEXANDRA HALL OF RESIDENCE…

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ALEXANDRA HALL OF RESIDENCE "n FOR WOMEN STUDENTS. no classic stream where nymphs and naiads ttoam' bellowed by Time's touch till sagely hoar, 0Ine shall tower in pride by the Western wlers' si.de' te wild waves surge against the shore." -OLD SONG. THE MAYOR OF ABERYSTWYTH, by H. if. Davies, Aberystwyth. vVo aMs' lndebted to Professor J. R. Ainsworth of 8 excellent article in the University College *hi Magazine for some of the particulars i print below, relating to this handsome ^ding, which was gracefully opened on tlaltieY H.R.H. the Princess of Wales, after whose Tho s^reet will take its title. e"^cation of women in Britain has made A^^ridcs during the last twenty years, and ,^Tth deserves honourable mention for a full 8 hard work in the good cause. Looking ^Me f^ flourishing women's side, about 200 ago th seems scarcely credible that 13 years were no women students at all. Not that in the constitution of the College forbade 'n a | there were at one time women-students olae defunct musical department; but no the jeen,s to have thought of it, perhaps because 'es8 t^^d for higher education of women was er b Cen then than now. Lent Term, 1884, will >t u, Memorable in the annals of the College, for the enrolment of the first woman-student In n ordinary College course. 2Ctober> 1885, Abergeldie House, at the Cliff H«8jj the Terrace, was chartered as a Hall of for women-students, under the manage- a Lady-Superintendent, assisted by a 0,1 and full staff of servants. Residence, how- made compulsory, and the inmates ,'vfere not made compulsory, and the inmates (},¡:1t11 C. S. Dennis Esq., r of the Cambrian Railways Company). of h!Culia Were few' and as kthis"meant ry *088> fche experiment was not prolonged Nttien_ f°ne Session. Compulsory residence for t» ^88 dent8 was decided upon for Session ^ent apd Abergeldie House was once more Z1^8 Session was a^s0 marked by the ap- I'P^I QR °f Miss E. A. Carpenter as Lady-Prin- i he Hall, a post which she still holds, and ti, 0 e, for the sake of the College, will long ^8, a hold. The present article is a record of the most prominent fact of all is that not <J n'8 e(^ucation at Aberystwyth, but ta °f & Vcafcion in general, owes a very great org ^^titude to Miss Carpenter—whose energy, ?ls*n £ power, and versatility have been l) ^her Wers of strength, as it is obvious to j)6-8 of ?^wythians,—for the educational useful- M^cipgif^ystwyth is by no means limited to the i both r, y- Women-students come from all parts an,nSland and Wales, and some from Scot- s ^re^an<^> while many former women- Ca,^ere j holding important appointments, are jAber 0Ver a still wider area. of^n^e proved no "abiding city," and the ih^een ^.s'der|ee oscillated, session after session, (?) v • & S* encls of the Terrace, with pleas- groy,tll iy. Later on it came to be Halls, for a i n numbers soon made one house,— large one—quite insufficient. And then, ABERYSTWYTH COLLEGE, Photo by J. Owen, Newtown. by the time Session 1891-92 was on the wane, came the momentous, not to say daring step of taking the Queen's Hotel for the following Session. Can we fill so stupendous a pile with women-students ? queried the more cautious ones. Yes!" said Miss Carpenter-and they did. Now they do more for Balmoral House, the twin-sister of Abergeldie, is too small to serve as an overflow Hall," and a third building is appropriated, not to count an Infirmary," for that is generally empty, since only the physically fit are admitted to the College, besides which points can be given to most places on the score of healthy conditions. But it fol- lowed, from the nature of the case, that no combi- nation of hotels and lodging-houses, however excel- lent these might have been for their special ends, could meet all the needs in a satisfactory way, and a permanent Hall of Residence, belonging to the College had been a desideratum. The women's side had, Sessions since, passed the experimental stage, and constituted a large fraction of the entire undergraduate contingent, which at present num- bers about 400. The Aberystwyth women- students have attained many academic successes, a fact gracefully alluded to by the Rt. Hon. A. H. D. Acland, at the time when he opened the new Library. The success of Aberystwyth as a centre for the higher education of women is due to many causes, of which may be mentioned :—(1) The close union between Hall and College; (2) the reasonable fees, £45 being about the average total payment made for board, residence, and tuition during the whole Session (3) the healthy environment; and (4) the thorough way in which the mixed" system is carried out. The women-students attend the same classes as the men, and take their full share in the social life of the College. And lastly, it is well worth noting that the University of Wales, though the youngest of its kind, is the most liberal of all the resident British Universities in its recognition of educatioual claims of women. What has been said abundantly proves that a permanent Hall of Residence was not merely a desideratum, but an absolute necessity. Late in 1891 an Appeal Committee was appointed by the I H.R.H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES. College Council with the view of collecting funds for the purpose. Considerable interest was excited, and the scheme was patronised by a number of influential ladies. The attempt was not, however, a pecuniary success, though donations were given and promises made to the amount of some C300. For a time, chiefly owing to the financial diffi- culties of the College resulting from a heavy building debt, the Hall Scheme remained in abey- ance; but in 1893 new life was infused into it. Owing mainly to the untiring exertions of Mr Lewis Morris, a grant was secured of z62,000 from the Pfeiffer Bequest, a fund of C70,000 left in trust for the advancement of women's education by a Welsh lady, Mrs Emily Pfeiffer (nee Davies). This piece of good fortune turned the scale in favour of the proposed Hall, and the next step in advance was due to the Aberystwyth Corporation, by whose generosity a site was provided on the sea-front at the extreme north end of the Terrace. Then came the appointment as joint-architects of Mr C. J. Ferguson, F.S.A., of Westminster and Carlisle, and Mr T. E. Morgan, of Aberystwyth, and this started a further chain of events, as the result of which the foundation of the new Hall was laid on Wednesday, March 13th, 1895, by Lady Hills-Johnes, who laid two stones, one on behalf of Lady Aberdare; Mrs Principal Roberts, on behalf of Mrs Wynford Philipps and Mrs Jessy Williams, Bronhaulog. The date of the ceremony was in the first place fixed for St David's Day, the laying of the four foundation stones being allotted to Lady Aberdare, Lady Hills- Johnes, Mrs Wynford Philipps, and Mrs Jessy Wil- liams, but the lamented death of Lord Aberdare intervening, the proceedings were consequently postponed to the dates above-mentioned. The contract for the erection of the building was secured by Mr David Lloyd, of Aberystwyth. The College Council also took the wise step of purchas- ing Balmoral House, which adjoins the site on the south:side, so that future extension in that direction will be a possibility. I. ALEXANDRA HALL Of RESIDENCE, Photo by H. H. Davies, Aberystwyth.

HIS WORSHIP THE MAYOR OF ABERYSTWYTH.

THE MAYOR OF WELSHPOOL.

MAJOR E. PRYCE-JONES, M.P.

MR. C. E. HOWELL.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES,…