Born 11 September 1873.
Died 7 March 1962.

A noted suffragist and campaigner for women's rights to higher education, she was the first women to graduate with a Bachelor of Theology degree from a Scottish University.

Connection to the University of Glasgow: Honorary Graduate

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Achievements

The following achievement is associated with Frances Melville:

Leading administrator of women's university education
As the most senior woman academic in Scotland, Frances Melville was an astute administrator and ambassador of women's education.

Honours

The following honours are associated with this person:

• Honorary Degree
• Officer of the British Empire (OBE)

Biography

Frances Helen Melville (1873-1962) was a suffragist and a prominent campaigner for greater access to higher education for women. She was Mistress of Queen Margaret College, 1909 to 1935 and was awarded an honorary LLD by the University in 1927.

Born in Edinburgh, Melville matriculated at the University of Edinburgh in 1892 and graduated with a first-class honours MA degree in Philosophy in 1897. From 1896 until 1899 she worked as a tutor at the University of Edinburgh, then after a short spell as lecturer in Mental and Moral Science at the Cheltenham Ladies' College she became warden of University Hall at the University of St Andrews. In 1910 she became the first woman to graduate BD at a Scottish university.

Melville was Mistress of Queen Margaret College from 1909 until it closed in 1935. In 1927 she was the first Scottish woman graduate to receive an honorary degree from the University. She was a prominent member of the Scottish Universities Women's Suffrage Union and Honorary President of the Glasgow Women's Citizens' Association, and she stood as an Independent for the Scottish Universities seat in a bye-election in 1938. She was awarded an OBE in 1935.