Janet Ruth Bacon

Janet Ruth Bacon (26 October 1891 – 25 January 1965) was Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London from 1935 to 1944.

Early life and education Bacon was born on 26 October 1891 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the daughter of a barrister. She was educated at Oxford High School, a private school in the city. She studied the Classical Tripos at Girton College, Cambridge, sitting Part I in 1915 and Part II in 1916: women were not allowed to graduate from the University of Cambridge with degrees until 1948.

She was principal during the Second World War when part of the college was occupied by the women's ATS Officer Cadets' Training Unit (OCTU). The stress of war-time forced her to resign on the grounds of ill-health but it was clear that she understood she had failed. One of her last responsibilities was as a member of the Post-War Policy Committee of the college. She disagreed with the majority on the committee and her failure to convince her colleagues added to her sense of failure as principal. One of the proposals agreed was an intention for Royal Holloway College to become co-educational. This later began in 1945 with the admission of men postgraduates and then in 1965 with male undergraduates. She was succeeded in the last year of war by Miss Fanny Street as Acting Principal.