> 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

Throughout the Second World War women students and staff remained resilient and showed great courage in their ability to adapt in the face of upheaval and insecurity. This upheaval included the evacuation of Westfield College to St Peter's Hall, Oxford and Queen Mary College to King's College, Cambridge in 1939.

Westfield College at St Peter's Hall, Oxford, June 1944.
From 1939-1945, Westfield evacuated to Oxford and Principal Mary Stock and
staff ensured the College life continued as normally as possible.
Courtesy of Queen Mary, University of London Archives.

Notable women such as Mary Stocks, Principal of Westfield College, worked hard to maintain morale amongst staff and students during the evacuation of Westfield. She became Principal in 1939 and brought with her an unconventional and fresh approach which brought Westfield through the difficult war period.

Mary Stocks, 1970. Courtesy of Queen Mary, University of London Archives.

Report on the Committee on Amenities and Welfare Conditions in the Three Women’s Services, August 1942. Courtesy of Queen Mary, University of London Archives.

Mary Stocks was a member of the Committee on Amenities and Welfare in the Three Women's Services. Women undertook a range of tasks in the women’s services, during this period. From 1941, all single women, aged between 20 and 30, were obliged to register for war work. This was later extended to women up to the age of 50, and married women. More...