Editing Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (section)

===Founding===
[[File:Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lady Margaret Hall (Oxford).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lady Margaret Beaufort]], after whom the college is named]] 
In June 1878, the ''[[Association for the Education of Women|Association for the Higher Education of Women]]'' was formed, aiming for the eventual creation of a college for women in Oxford. Some of the more prominent members of the association were [[George Granville Bradley]], Master of [[University College, Oxford|University College]], [[T. H. Green]], a prominent liberal philosopher and Fellow of [[Balliol College]], and [[Edward Stuart Talbot]], Warden of [[Keble College]]. Talbot insisted on a specifically [[Anglican]] institution, which was unacceptable to most of the other members. Some of the Anglican members of the association had specifically wanted to endow an Anglican college after [[Moncure Conway]] from the [[Ethical movement|humanist]] [[South Place Religious Society]] in London offered a large sum of money towards a secular women's college; the established church was already concerned that [[University College London]], which had recently become the first university to admit women, would lead "advanced women" away from Christianity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstwomenatoxford.ox.ac.uk/article/religion|last=Schwartz|first=Laura|title=Religion and the Women's Colleges|publisher=[[University of Oxford]]|work=Women at Oxford 1878–1920}}</ref>

The two parties eventually split, and Talbot's group founded Lady Margaret Hall, while T. H. Green founded [[Somerville College]].<ref>''Alden's Oxford Guide''. Oxford: Alden & Co., 1958; pp. 120–21</ref> Lady Margaret Hall opened its doors to its first nine students in 1879. The first 21 students from Somerville and Lady Margaret Hall attended lectures in rooms above a baker's shop on [[Little Clarendon Street]].<ref name="Lannon">{{cite magazine|author=Frances Lannon|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/404111.article|title=Her Oxford|magazine=Times Higher Education|date=30 October 2008}}</ref> Despite the college's [[High Anglican]] origins, not all students were devout Christians.

The college was named after [[Lady Margaret Beaufort]], mother of [[King Henry VII]], patron of scholarship and learning. The first principal was [[Elizabeth Wordsworth]], the great-niece of the poet [[William Wordsworth]] and daughter of [[Christopher Wordsworth]], [[Bishop of Lincoln]].