Skip to main content

Principals and Pioneers

Principals and Pioneers

These three films, funded by the Understanding British Portraits Subject Specialist network, explore the portraits of the College's early female principals.

These women were a new role for women as  leaders in the field of women's higher education and role models for the students who studied under them.

Dame Margaret Tuke

Art Historian Dr Imogen Tedbury looks at why the collections hold three portraits of Dame Margaret Tuke.

Ellen Charlotte Higgins

The second film in the series to explores the background to Sir William Orpen's magnificent portrait of Ellen Charlotte Higgins, the longest serving principal of Royal Holloway.

Dame Emily Penrose

In this film Dr Imogen Tedbury looks at Philip Alexius de László's portrait of Penrose as well as uncovering the true identity of the sitter in a portrait previously thought to be of Penrose.

Understanding British Portraits

This work was funded by the Understanding British Portraits Subject Specialist network.

Explore Royal Holloway