Students outside Deneke c.1933

History and Archives

A Pioneering College

In 1878 LMH was founded and changed Oxford University for ever. It opened up Oxford to women for the first time. They were pioneers and broke boundaries, going on to lead remarkable lives, such as founding Save The Children and becoming the first female President of the British Medical Association.

Using Archives for Research

What are archives, how can they be useful to my research and how can I make best use of them?

Below are some useful sites offering guides and catalogues to start your research. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact the Archivist: archivist@lmh.ox.ac.uk

How to use Archives:

Archives Hub

Oxford University Lib Guides - Gives tips, training opportunities and resources for students. Note the Thesis Fairs held in the Examination Schools bringing together repositories and resources from across Oxford.

Some useful catalogue databases:

The National Archives

Lady Margaret Hall subject index and paper collections

Oxford University Archives [contact details and outline of college collections]

Cambridge University Archives [contains catalogues of personal papers]

Some tips when planning a visit:

Remember when visiting an archive to email to arrange a visit well in advance. A number of archives have digitised materials and may have some catalogues published online so do check out the archives website. Note that not all material will be catalogued and more recent material may also be closed to research so do check with staff beforehand.

When planning a visit, It is important to note college archives in particular may only be open part of the week so check out the websites for opening hours. All archives will require you to fill out a researcher access form agreeing to the repository rules, it is particularly important to keep papers in the order you find them. Larger institutions and university special collections may require you to present ID so again check the website before setting off.

A good introduction to visiting a larger University collection [Bangor University] can be viewed here.