Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Dame Rosemary Murray and the donors. New Hall was founded in 1954, housing sixteen students in Silver Street where Darwin College now stands. This was at a time when Cambridge had the lowest proportion of women undergraduates of any university in the United Kingdom, and when only two other colleges (Girton and Newnham) admitted female students. In 1962, members of the Darwin family gave their home, "The Orchard", to the College. This new site was located on Huntingdon Road, about a mile from the centre of Cambridge. The architects chosen were Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, who are known for their
Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded as "New Hall" in 1954 but, unlike many other colleges, it was founded without a significant endowment and thus did not bear a benefactor's name. This situation changed in 2008 following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards ("née" Smith) and her husband Steve Edwards to secure the future of the College as a college at the University of Cambridge in perpetuity. In recognition of this, New Hall was renamed Murray Edwards College - honouring the first President,