The Sidgwick Society Afternoon Tea

The Sidgwick Society is a group for all those who have pledged to leave a gift to Newnham in their Will. Members gather at Newnham for afternoon tea in May each year. 

Legacies have always been a crucial source of support for the College and currently provide Newnham with a third of its income from donations. Thank you to all those who have already pledged their support. Pease do continue to consider Newnham if you are making your Will as your legacy can have a lasting impact for generations and your generosity will help fund academic research and learning support, it will enable our students and will care for our buildings and gardens.  We are grateful if have now received notification of 167 new legacy pledges against our of target of 150 set in 2021. 

We host the Afternoon Tea in May as a thank you to the generous member of the Sidgwick Society. This year Emeritus Professor and Honorary Fellow Janet Todd OBE (NC 1961) will be joining the tea to speak about her books on Jane Austen. Last year Janet published a new 8-volume edition with Cambridge University Press as well as a memoir of her long engagement with Austen Living with Jane Austen (CUP). Her main topic will be the ‘unruly body’ as depicted (and mocked) by Jane Austen. Janet is an Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Emerita Professor of Literature at the University of Aberdeen, an internationally renowned scholar of early women’s writing and a biographer of Jane Austen, Aphra Behn and Mary Wollstonecraft, amongst others. A former President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, she was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to literary scholarship.

Personal invitations have been sent and we would be delighted to see as many members as possible at the tea. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Rob Sayer, Events Officer, on 01223 335725 or at alumnae-events@newn.cam.ac.uk