ABSTRACT
During the early years at Crofton Cottages Elizabeth Hughes had established a precarious foothold in Cambridge, with no financial safety-net beneath her. She had to strategically build on friendship networks within the university, studying how the lines of communication worked. Then, as now, it was not only a question of what you knew, but also who you knew. Having herself attended Newnham College, she had the principal’s personal support, even though Newnham was not formally involved with CTC. As well as to Anne Jemima Clough, Hughes looked to the Local Examinations Syndicate as her first line of supporters; Canon G.F.Browne, then secretary, had chaired the inaugural meeting of CTC in May 1885. The council which took over the administration of CTC was subsequently Chaired by Professor Liveing, who had been Secretary to the Examinations Syndicate back in 1869. Emily Davies had brought him and his wife into support of women’s education in the early 1870s when she had tried to work out exactly how a free-standing college in Cambridge could be made to work.1 Another early (and long-standing) friend of CTC was the Reverend Alfred Rose, a Fellow of Emmanuel, who offered his rooms there for the committee to meet until they transferred in November 1886 to the Local Examinations Syndicate Building in Mill Lane. He remained loyal to them after leaving Cambridge for Episcopal office in Stepney.
