The Newnham in the title is, of course, the thriving women’s college in Cambridge which developed out of a boarding house that opened in 1871 with just a handful of ardent female students. Biddy Passmore, devoted Newnhamite and highly regarded education journalist, hit on the brilliant idea of getting six Newnham graduates who have become distinguished and successful writers – Jenn Ashworth, Margaret Drabble, Elaine Feinstein, Sarah LeFanu, Sue Limb and Claire Tomalin (what a lineup!) – to produce short, incisive profiles of six remarkable women who studied at the college during its early years. This hugely enjoyable book is the result.
Each of the six beautifully written miniature biographies recalls a strong and attractive personality who left a firm mark upon her times. As well as feminist writers (one of whom had a child with the married HG Wells at the age of 21), they include a recently qualified surgeon who rushed to join the small Women’s Hospital Corps on the outbreak of the First World War, the first English translator of some of the greatest Russian literature and a multi- talented, pioneering conservationist who saved much of the Cornish coastline from the greedy hands of the developers in the 1930s.
Though in many ways a diverse group of delightfully idiosyncratic talents, they had a number of common characteristics. They were all very able. Astonishingly, degrees only became available to Cambridge women as late as 1948, but outstanding results were achieved by these Newnhamite prodigies who sat exams. Peggy Pollard, saviour of the Cornish coast, was the first woman to get a first in oriental languages. Like the others, she wore her learning with charm and grace.
None of them sought a prominent position at the forefront of political campaigns, though all gave firm support to the progressive causes of the day; not the slightest trace of Tory or rightwing sentiment was to be found among them. Amber Reeves, the Newnhamite who had a youthful fling with Wells, was persuaded in 1931 to fight a hopeless seat for Labour, losing by 51,000 votes.
They all made their mark by pursuing their career goals with a firm sense of purpose and commitment. Marjorie Blandy, the young doctor who went to the western front, added steadily to her qualifications after her return to London, becoming the first female medical registrar at her hospital in 1920. Constance Garnett, whose acclaimed translations of great Russian authors filled over 70 volumes, “changed the literary climate of England”, as Claire Tomalin puts it in her contribution to this compelling slim volume. The saddest member of the little group, Amy Levy, had published several collections of poetry and three novels by the time she took her own life at the age of 27. Newnham taught them above all how to combine talent with the discipline that brings success.
The tyranny of Victorian middle-class mores was eagerly discarded. Sue Limb notes that Peggy Pollard “dabbled once or twice in Sapphic love (strictly from the waist up)” at Newnham. Fuller enjoyment probably followed in Cornwall after her marriage, when she fell for a female violinist. Such diversions took place on the periphery of life. It was chiefly through their remarkable professional accomplishments that these six Newnhamites broke the bounds within which society as a whole – including many leftwing men – had sought to confine them. Their greatest common characteristic is that they were all pioneers, pointing the way for women who came after them. This little gem of a book shows how they did it.
Alistair Lexden, a Conservative peer, is the author of a book on women in the Conservative party and contributed to episode two of a recent BBC TV programme on their key role in the Primrose League, Suffragettes Forever! The Story of Women and Power (available on BBC iPlayer until 3 April).