| Description | Staff admin file including application for and references re principal post, appointment agreement, and some correspondence relating to administration.
Letter from Iris Smith discussing memorial fund for Miss Davis, aiming to equip the library
Post-retirement correspondence:
Letters to Whitelands archivist Malcolm Cole, 1982, 1988; generic letter re publication of Cole’s monograph history of the College Chapel, 1985.
Correspondence with David Peacock in 1985 after his appointment as Whitelands College principal, and 1989.
Letter from Mark Tully re Radio 4’s ‘Something Understood’ programme, 2001.
Correspondence with Newnham College principal Onora O’Neill re her Reith Lectures.
Typescript articles and lectures by Miss Saunders:
A Village Meeting; American Visit [1966]; memories of Guildford Grammar School, 1988; Power and Powerlessness – what is God’s power?; University of Oxford, Development Records Project – the Development of Education in Pre-Independent Africa: Nigeria and Uganda.
Historical reference material including newspaper cuttings:
Articles recalling time as headmistress of Guildford County School 1944-49
Times Educational Supplement 25 January 1963 - ‘Three Prodigals’ featuring Miss Saunders’ experience as a teacher in Africa.
Typescript essay / article entitled ‘The Chapel of S Ursula 1881-1959 (author unclear)
Parish profile article on Miss Saunders, 1991.
2005 May Day investiture programme 2005 and copy of Miss Saunders’ remarks.
‘Poems liked by Miss Saunders’ - ‘Now I’m 94’ and ‘A Broken Image’.
Photos: staff and student photos from Africa; photo of Miss Saunders’ mother; portrait images of Miss Saunders at Whitelands and at formal events; images re opening of new buildings by Duchess of Gloucester; informal snapshots. Multiple copies of most images.
College file after Miss Saunders’ death in 2008 including obituaries; order of thanksgiving service; email correspondence re her ashes; solicitors’ correspondence 2009 re her estate, detailing bequest and that residue of her estate be left to Whitelands.
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| Administrative History | Molly Saunders (1909-2008) had a distinguished career as a school teacher, head teacher, and overseas educational administrator before becoming principal at Whitelands.
She won a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read geography in 1927-30. After graduating she held grammar school teaching posts before becoming headmistress at Guildford Grammar School for Girls, from 1944-49. She worked for the Overseas Civil Service from 1949 and was principal at a training college in Nigeria in 1951-53, and assistant director for education in Uganda in 1953-58, with special responsibility for women and girls.
Returning to the UK in 1958, Molly, a committed Anglican, was appointed as Whitelands College principal and, over the ensuing 12 years, presided over a period of great change. Having inherited an all-female institution of around 300 students, by 1970 the college had tripled in size, and had been co-educational since 1966. Teaching training course duration had changed from two to three years, and the Bachelor of Education degree and a PGCE programme for graduates had been introduced.
In retirement Molly maintained a keen interest in Whitelands, as well as relationships with many of her students and colleagues, by whom she was held in high esteem.
She died on 15 July 2008, a few weeks before her 99th birthday, leaving the residue of her estate to Whitelands.
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