1910s

Key dates

Friday 1 November 1912: Forming of the committee that brought into existence a residential college for women.

Thursday 17 April 1913: Meeting at Government House to consider the establishment of a college for women, and the election of the first members of the executive.

Monday 16 March 1914: Official opening of The Women’s College at Kangaroo Point – the day most of the 19 foundation residents arrived.

Friday 27 March 1914: The College Council’s first meeting.

Friday 24 July 1914: The Letters Patent were issued to the College by King George V.

Explore This Decade

1912 Standing Committee
1912Standing Committee
The Women’s College Standing Committee preceded the College itself. It was a committee that gathered with a mission to establish a college for young women – especially non-metropolitan women – attending The University of Queensland. At the time, only three Colleges existed, serving the interests only of young men. The forming of the committee that brought into existence a residential college for women took place on 1 November 1912.

On 17 April 1913, Jane Bourne, daughter of Brisbane Lord Mayor Hockings, chaired a meeting at Government House, with the support and encouragement of the Governor, Sir William, and his wife, Lady MacGregor (pictured), to establish The Women’s College within The University of Queensland.

Image source: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Neg. 165834.
1913 Women's in the news
1913Women's in the news
This article about The Women’s College is from the The Telegraph that was published on Friday 18 April 1913. The article discusses the meeting that was held on Thursday 17 April 1913 about the proposed residential college for women students at the Queensland University.
1913 Letter of appeal
1913Letter of appeal
This letter – written by Jane E. Bourne, President of the Women’s College Committee – asks for funds for the establishment of The Women’s College.

Jane Bourne was the daughter of Albert John Hockings, Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1865 to 1865. She married John Sumner Pears Bourne and their daughter, Eleanor Elizabeth Bourne, was the first Queensland woman to study medicine.

The Bourne Wing in the Sallyanne Atkinson Building is named after the Bourne family.
1913 Brisbane Calendar
1913Brisbane Calendar
The College’s first fundraising effort was the publication of the Brisbane Calendar. It was published at Christmas in 1913.

The front cover of this calendar is pictured.
1914 Letters Patent
1914Letters Patent
Letters Patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a head of state, generally granting an office to a person or corporation.

The Women’s College received its Letters Patent on 24 July 1914. The head of state who issued this document was Australia’s monarch at the time, King George V. The Letters Patent were issued to the College’s first set of Councillors:
- Freda Bage (our first Principal, 1914 – 1946)
- Peter Balderston MacGregor (Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Merthyr, 1920 – 1923)
- Jane Elizabeth Bourne (President of The Women’s College Committee)
- Marianne Helena Brydon (Honorary Treasurer for the Standing Committee of The Women’s College; she was also an influential part of Brisbane’s educational institutions at the time)
- John Douglas Story (a prominent Queensland public servant; Brisbane’s Story Bridge is named in his honour)
- Bertram Dillon Steele (an Australian scientist who was the foundation Professor of Chemistry at The University of Queensland)
- Mary Atkinson Williams (Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar School, 1913 – 1914).
Image source: Queensland State Archives, Item ID ITM2768922.
1914 Freda Bage
1914Freda Bage
On 8 February 1914, Anna Frederika (Freda) Bage became the first principal of The Women's College, a role that she then held for 32 years.

Freda was born in Victoria. In her childhood, following her father’s death, she and her family moved to England before she returned to Melbourn in 1894. She graduated from university in 1905 with a Bachelor of Science, and then in 1907 with a Master of Science. She began her career as an academic in Biology before winning a research scholarship from the Victorian Government that took her to London. She returned to Australia and in 1913 was offered a job at the University of Queensland as a biology lecturer. This then led to her appointment as Principal at The Women’s College in 1914.

Throughout her life, Freda advocated for women’s rights, and was a member of the Queensland Recruiting Committee during World War I. She had many passions, including being a nature enthusiast, and a supporter of arts and sports.

In 1941, Bage was appointed with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) and she retired in 1946. Freda died in October 1970 in Brisbane. She is commemorated through a stone grotesque by sculptor Rhyl Hinwood, which sits The University of Queensland’s Great Court.
1914 Women's in the news
1914Women's in the news
This article about The Women’s College is from the Darling Downs Gazette that was published on Monday 16 March 1914. The article discusses how the need for a women’s residential college was recognised and the donations that had been received to date to establish The Women’s College.
1914 Our first residents
1914Our first residents
The 1914 Fresher Year Group is pictured. These 19 women were the first residents of The Women’s College along with Principal Freda Bage.

The following is an excerpt from an editorial letter that was written by one of the first Women’s College residents. Her name was not published with her letter. It was the first College Note for Women’s, published in The Magazine of The University of Queensland (vol. 2, no. 2, May 1914, pgs 39 – 39).

“1914: This year witnesses a new advent in the collegiate world, in the establishment of The Women’s College, and she steps forward with becoming modesty, yet with pardonable pride to claim recognition among her sister – or brother – Colleges.

Indeed, with another, we may even boast that our College has the greatest enrolment of students – for there are nineteen of us. Therefore let the man beware, who says aught in disparagement of our College, for he will bring upon himself the disparagement of nineteen tongues ...

All of us who had the honour and joy of being the first women installed in College would not be without the memories of this first term for a good deal ...

It is the College spirit that we value most, the sympathy and understanding, which arises from the pursuit of similar interests, intellectual and otherwise, and from the mutual enjoyment of each other – this is the most precious part of College life to us, as it ever has been and ever will be to College women.”
1914 Chislehurst House
1914Chislehurst House
The first students came into residence on 16 March 1914 in Chislehurst House at Kangaroo Point, across the Brisbane River from the former University of Queensland campus. The Women’s College at Kangaroo Point also included Oskarsholme (building not pictured).

In the original application form for admission to The Women's College, a number of College Regulations were detailed. Back then, applicants had to produce satisfactory evidence of good moral character. They also had to comply with the following.
- Even though the College was not aligned with any religion, all resident undergraduates were required to attend roll-call and prayers. Roll-call and prayers were held at 7:45am on weekdays and 8:15am on Sundays. (Conscientious objections were allowed.)
- Students who wanted to be out after 6:30pm had to write their names and the place where they were to be in a book provided for the purpose. No student could be out of the College after 10:00pm without permission from the Principal. The sign-out book was still part of the regulations for freshers until the end of 1975.
- Students could entertain friends at lunch, dinner or tea at a fixed charge. The term “friends” here applied to ladies only. A public room was provided where the students could receive other visitors.
Interestingly, question 12 in the application form – “Proposed course or year at University (Arts and Science)” – does not entertain the idea that a woman would be studying Engineering, which was the third degree offered by The University of Queensland in 1914.

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1912Standing Committee

The Women’s College Standing Committee preceded the College itself. It was a committee that gathered with a mission to establish a college for young women – especially non-metropolitan women – attending The University of Queensland. At the time, only three Colleges existed, serving the interests only of young men. The forming of the committee that brought into existence a residential college for women took place on 1 November 1912.

On 17 April 1913, Jane Bourne, daughter of Brisbane Lord Mayor Hockings, chaired a meeting at Government House, with the support and encouragement of the Governor, Sir William, and his wife, Lady MacGregor (pictured), to establish The Women’s College within The University of Queensland.

Image source: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Neg. 165834.

1913Women's in the news

This article about The Women’s College is from the The Telegraph that was published on Friday 18 April 1913. The article discusses the meeting that was held on Thursday 17 April 1913 about the proposed residential college for women students at the Queensland University.

1913Letter of appeal

This letter – written by Jane E. Bourne, President of the Women’s College Committee – asks for funds for the establishment of The Women’s College.

Jane Bourne was the daughter of Albert John Hockings, Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1865 to 1865. She married John Sumner Pears Bourne and their daughter, Eleanor Elizabeth Bourne, was the first Queensland woman to study medicine.

The Bourne Wing in the Sallyanne Atkinson Building is named after the Bourne family.

1913Brisbane Calendar

The College’s first fundraising effort was the publication of the Brisbane Calendar. It was published at Christmas in 1913.

The front cover of this calendar is pictured.

1914Letters Patent

Letters Patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a head of state, generally granting an office to a person or corporation.

The Women’s College received its Letters Patent on 24 July 1914. The head of state who issued this document was Australia’s monarch at the time, King George V. The Letters Patent were issued to the College’s first set of Councillors:

Freda Bage (our first Principal, 1914 – 1946)
Peter Balderston MacGregor (Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Merthyr, 1920 – 1923)
Jane Elizabeth Bourne (President of The Women’s College Committee)
Marianne Helena Brydon (Honorary Treasurer for the Standing Committee of The Women’s College; she was also an influential part of Brisbane’s educational institutions at the time)
John Douglas Story (a prominent Queensland public servant; Brisbane’s Story Bridge is named in his honour)
Bertram Dillon Steele (an Australian scientist who was the foundation Professor of Chemistry at The University of Queensland)
Mary Atkinson Williams (Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar School, 1913 – 1914).

Image source: Queensland State Archives, Item ID ITM2768922.

1914Freda Bage

On 8 February 1914, Anna Frederika (Freda) Bage became the first principal of The Women's College, a role that she then held for 32 years.

Freda was born in Victoria. In her childhood, following her father’s death, she and her family moved to England before she returned to Melbourn in 1894. She graduated from university in 1905 with a Bachelor of Science, and then in 1907 with a Master of Science. She began her career as an academic in Biology before winning a research scholarship from the Victorian Government that took her to London. She returned to Australia and in 1913 was offered a job at the University of Queensland as a biology lecturer. This then led to her appointment as Principal at The Women’s College in 1914.

Throughout her life, Freda advocated for women’s rights, and was a member of the Queensland Recruiting Committee during World War I. She had many passions, including being a nature enthusiast, and a supporter of arts and sports.

In 1941, Bage was appointed with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) and she retired in 1946. Freda died in October 1970 in Brisbane. She is commemorated through a stone grotesque by sculptor Rhyl Hinwood, which sits The University of Queensland’s Great Court.

1914Women's in the news

This article about The Women’s College is from the Darling Downs Gazette that was published on Monday 16 March 1914. The article discusses how the need for a women’s residential college was recognised and the donations that had been received to date to establish The Women’s College.

1914Our first residents

The 1914 Fresher Year Group is pictured. These 19 women were the first residents of The Women’s College along with Principal Freda Bage.

The following is an excerpt from an editorial letter that was written by one of the first Women’s College residents. Her name was not published with her letter. It was the first College Note for Women’s, published in The Magazine of The University of Queensland (vol. 2, no. 2, May 1914, pgs 39 – 39).

“1914: This year witnesses a new advent in the collegiate world, in the establishment of The Women’s College, and she steps forward with becoming modesty, yet with pardonable pride to claim recognition among her sister – or brother – Colleges.

Indeed, with another, we may even boast that our College has the greatest enrolment of students – for there are nineteen of us. Therefore let the man beware, who says aught in disparagement of our College, for he will bring upon himself the disparagement of nineteen tongues ...

All of us who had the honour and joy of being the first women installed in College would not be without the memories of this first term for a good deal ...

It is the College spirit that we value most, the sympathy and understanding, which arises from the pursuit of similar interests, intellectual and otherwise, and from the mutual enjoyment of each other – this is the most precious part of College life to us, as it ever has been and ever will be to College women.”

1914Chislehurst House

The first students came into residence on 16 March 1914 in Chislehurst House at Kangaroo Point, across the Brisbane River from the former University of Queensland campus. The Women’s College at Kangaroo Point also included Oskarsholme (building not pictured).

In the original application form for admission to The Women's College, a number of College Regulations were detailed. Back then, applicants had to produce satisfactory evidence of good moral character. They also had to comply with the following.

Even though the College was not aligned with any religion, all resident undergraduates were required to attend roll-call and prayers. Roll-call and prayers were held at 7:45am on weekdays and 8:15am on Sundays. (Conscientious objections were allowed.)

Students who wanted to be out after 6:30pm had to write their names and the place where they were to be in a book provided for the purpose. No student could be out of the College after 10:00pm without permission from the Principal. The sign-out book was still part of the regulations for freshers until the end of 1975.

Students could entertain friends at lunch, dinner or tea at a fixed charge. The term “friends” here applied to ladies only. A public room was provided where the students could receive other visitors.

Interestingly, question 12 in the application form – “Proposed course or year at University (Arts and Science)” – does not entertain the idea that a woman would be studying Engineering, which was the third degree offered by The University of Queensland in 1914.