Ashburne Hall Alumni Association

The origins of Ashburne Hall began in 1899, when a public meeting was held at Manchester Town Hall to discuss the growth in the number of female university students and the lack of accommodation for them. It was decided that a hall of residence for women should be established and a constitution was drawn up. Ashburne House, located in Victoria Park, near the modern day Dalton-Ellis, was opened for this purpose on 27th January 1900.

The Hall moved to the present site in Fallowfield in 1906 when Edward Behrens and his wife Abigail left their house The Oaks to the University on Edward’s death, now known as Behrens House. 

The purpose built Halls were placed to the east of The Oaks. The first to be constructed was the Mary Worthington Wing. It was officially opened on the 22nd October 1910, making it one of the earliest women's Halls of Residence in the country. Mary Worthington was the daughter of a Derbyshire mill owner and a great contributor to the cause of education for women; she regularly donated money following the establishment of the Women’s Department of the University. 

When the Liberal politician Lord Morley of Blackburn, University Chancellor 1908-1923, died in 1923, he bequeathed his book collection to Ashburne Hall. The Central block was erected in 1924 to include a library which housed this collection and also a large dining hall; this was opened on the 20th May 1925. Ward Wing was built at the same time. The entrance lodge, Ashgate was added in 1926. It was built in a style to match Behrens House.

Lees wing was constructed in 1933, replacing the ‘tin tunnel’; which was a makeshift hallway which connected Behrens House to the other buildings. The addition of Lees necessitated the creation of new openings to connect this block with Behrens House and the Mary Worthington wing.

The most famous resident of Ashburne Hall was the noted children’s author Alison Uttley who in 1906 became the second woman to graduate with honours in Physics at the University.  

Thank you for the invite to speak at the Founders Day Dinner.

As a theme I intend to talk briefly about Lord Morley of Blackburn. The Library in the Main Building is named after Lord Morley as he donated his personal library to the hall. I will also say a little about the history of Ashburne Hall & Sheavyn House.

John Morley was a leading Liberal politician of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was also a distinguished journalist, newspaper editor and writer. Originally from Blackburn he sought election to Parliament to represent the town but failed. In 1883 he was elected in a by-election to represent Newcastle-upon-Tyne and quickly moved through the Liberal Party ranks as a prominent supporter of the leader, William Gladstone. He became a Cabinet Minister in 1886 as Chief Secretary to Ireland. Gladstone had recently decided to answer the Irish question by the introducing Irish Home Rule. This was a controversial policy and Gladstone was defeated a few months later and Morley lost office. He continued to be prominent in politics and returned to the position after Gladstone won the 1892 General Election. The question of Irish Home Rule remained very divisive and the Government was short-lived falling within 3 years.  At the 1895 General Election Morley lost his own seat but returned a year later at a by-election on Montrose. During the 1895-1905 period, when the Liberals were out of power, a key area Morley was involved in was opposition to the South African War. He believed it would increase the power of the State by requiring greater taxation. He was often described as the last great nineteenth century Liberal believing that laissez faire economics was the key to prosperity. In 1902 he received the Order of Merit and in the Liberal landslide of 1906 he returned to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for India. He held the office for nearly six years and during that period he adopted firmness and sanctioned extreme measures for dealing with opposition whilst combining this with democratic principles by adopting two distinguished native Indians to his Council. In 1908 he left the House of Commons having been raised to the peerage as Viscount Morley of Blackburn. From 1911 to the outbreak of World War One he held the post of Lord President of the Council and resigned from the Government in opposition to the decision to enter World War One. Following this he largely retired from politics but would intervene from time to time.

In retirement, one area he concentrated on was his role as Chancellor of the University of Manchester. A post he held from 1908 until 1923. This brings me to a little of the history of Ashburne & Sheavyn. Ashburne Hall had been founded at the end of the nineteenth century by Samuel Alexander, C.P. Scott and Alice Cooke as a Hall of Residence for female students. It was initially located at Ashburne house in Victoria Park which had been given by R.D. Darbishire. It moved to the current site in 1908 after Edward and Abigail Behrens donated their house for the continuing education of women. Now called Behrens House it was originally called ‘The Oaks’. Ashburne began to grow with the first wing, Mary Worthington, completed in 1910. During World War One building plans stopped. The Central Block which houses the Dining Room, the Library and Ward Wing was completed in 1924 just after the death of Lord Morley who had bequeathed his Library to the Hall. In 1933 Lees Wing was built replacing what was called ‘The Tin Tunnel’ which was a makeshift tin hallway that connected Behrens to the rest of the buildings. Following a decision of the University in the early 1990s to construct new en-suite accommodation Sheavyn House was built. Sheavyn is named after Ashburne’s third Warden Phoebe Sheavyn who in 1912 had been given a seat on the University’s Senate. In 2000 Ashburne admitted its first male students with postgraduates moving into Ward Wing and from 2008 male undergraduates have also been living in Ward Wing. The three blocks in Sheavyn House now bear the names of some of the founders of Ashburne Hall, Darbishire, Alexander and Stephen. Helen Stephen was the first Warden of Ashburne Hall.

Although this has been a brief history I hope that when you are studying in the Morley Library over the coming year you will have a better idea about the life of the person who bequeathed the Library to the Hall and you will have a better idea of the history of Ashburne Hall and Sheavyn House. I hope that you have a tremendous year living here and take away happy memories and friendships that last a lifetime.

Overview

The Alison Uttley Bursary is awarded to the applicant with the strongest academic attainment at A level (or international equivalent).

Applicants who are not first-year students must also have achieved at least a 2:1 in the previous year of their degree programme.

Value 

 £1,000

How to Apply 

To apply, please submit the following:

• A 300–500 word application emailed to: ashburneandsheavyn.reslife@manchester.ac.uk
• COPIES of academic certificates demonstrating your qualifications.

What to Include in Your Application 

Your written submission should provide:

• A brief description of yourself
• An overview of your university career so far
• A reflection on your stay in Ashburne & Sheavyn
• Details on how you would use the bursary

Eligibility

• Applicants must meet the academic criteria listed above.
• Students who have already received the University scholarship limit (£3,000) are not eligible for this bursary.

Overview

Overview

Thanks to the Ashburne Travel Bursary, I was able to take a two week trip across Italy, exploring many of the major artistic and cultural centres. I hoped to discover more about the life and works of Michelangelo in particular, but I came away with a new appreciation for many other 16th-century Renaissance artists, after seeing a plethora of their works first-hand. I marvelled at the smooth skin on Caravaggio’s figures, the striking quality of the gold paint used in many paintings (something that can only be fully appreciated up close), and the sheer quantity of ‘Madonna and child’ creations. Some of my favourites were Sebastiano Ricci’s Ascension, with its vivid depiction of grief and Cosimo Rosselli’s Santa Barbara with its defiant female figure standing on top of her own father. This reminded me particularly that Renaissance paintings refuse to be defined as just one thing. Yes, there are a lot of angels, biblical figures, and peculiar floating cherubs, but in amongst all this hubbub of grandeur and opulence and religious conformity, there are playful moments of cunning, hilarity, and genius which make this era of art creation so remarkable. In Florence I homed in on my exploration of Michelangelo, from seeing his tomb in the Sante Croce, to visiting his ancestral home Casa Buonarroti, where some of his sketches and smaller sculptures are on display. However, seeing his David in the Academia was the real
highlight for me. The shaping of each individual muscle, bone, and sinew, I couldn’t help but believe there was a beating heart inside too.

Now that I have detailed some of the sights that captured my mind, here are some recommendations for the body (food) and soul (sunset spots). In Rome, venture to Regoli in the Esquilino district to try the local speciality of Maritozzi. In Florence, go to Piazzale Michelangelo for the most glorious sunset with a view across the city, try
a Lampredotto with salsa verde in the Mercato Centrale, and take a cosy afternoon nap on a plush armchair in the Giunti Odeon cinema bookshop. In Bologna, go to Trattoria Bolognese to enjoy their eponymous dish amongst the company of locals, in a humbly decorated restaurant, that if you’re lucky, may show an Italian-dubbed Little House on the Prairie episode as an accompaniment. In Milan, leave and go to Bergamo for the day. The panoramic view from the Città Alta is spectacular at sunset, and there’s a plethora of beautiful
churches and eateries that can offer solace and sustenance. In Como, well I didn’t have much time to gather recommendations here, but I can say that the 24 hour Carrefour has some excellently crunchy apples, and once the Brunate funicular is repaired, I’m sure the view at the top will be splendid. Finally in Venice, I can pass on
some advice that a friend once gave me, walk around without a map or an agenda, and just get lost. Wander along the canals and over the bridges, taking in its mystical majesty. It would be a bonus if you do this at night.

My trip across Italy was nothing short of spectacular. I would like to thank the Ashburne Alumni for making this experience possible for me.