> Thematic History

> 1850-1901:
Education for Women
- Victorian Ideals
- Woman Physician
- Ladies College

> 1902-1913:
Education & Vocation
- Learning at ELC
- The Westfield Way

> 1914-1945:
War & Circumstance
- The Great War
- WWII Evacuation
- Learning & Leisure

> 1946-1959:
Peace & Acceptance
- Restoration
- Medicine & Dentistry

> 1960-present:
Change & Opportunity
- Women in Science
- Creativity & Diversity
- Then & Now

The role of Christianity in the mission of Westfield College assisted in establishing its international links in China and India, and elsewhere. In 1888, Katherine Tristam, the first Resident Lecturer at Westfield, had gone to work in Japan. Additionally, Margaret Brooke, one of the first Westfield students, accompanied her husband to Upper Nigeria in 1890 on a missionary visit, and Mary Shields and May Walford, both early Westfield students, travelled to mission stations in different parts of India.

In 1916, Pao Swen Tseng became the University of London's first woman Chinese graduate, having studied Botany under Ellen Delf-Smith and earned her BSc degree. Tseng returned to China to help establish the I Fang School in Changsha, which shared Westfield’s commitment to Christian higher education for women. Through her work and as Principal, she became an acknowledged authority on education for girls. She later moved to Taiwan where she became involved in the United Nations.

Graduation photograph of Pao Swen Tseng, 1916. Courtesy of Queen Mary, University of London Archives.

Pao Swen Tseng and a hydrangea tree outside the Botany Laboratory, I Fang School, Changsha, China, May 1926. Courtesy of Queen Mary, University of London Archives.

Westfield College also had links to The Women’s Christian College in Madras, India. It was established in 1915 by Eleanor McDougall who was Resident Lecturer in Classics at Westfield College from 1902.

In 1915, McDougall moved to India and became the Founder Principal of the Women’s Christian College in Madras. The College opened with 41 students and 7 academic staff. It was established through a joint venture of 12 inter-denominational missionary societies in England and the USA. From its establishment in 1915, The Women's Christian College in Madras was a sister college of Westfield, with Westfield graduates amongst its staff. The Women’s Christian College is now affiliated with the University of Madras.