Somerville was founded to include the excluded. It was created for women when universities refused them entry, and for people of diverse beliefs when the establishment religion was widely demanded. Now its female and male students represent the world and many Somervillians go on to change that world, too. We hope you like it. Somerville Hall was founded in 1879 and named in honour of the Scottish mathematician and scientist Mary Somerville.In 1891 Somerville became the first of the women’s halls to adopt a qualifying exam for candidates. Three years later, in 1894, it became the first women’s hall to adopt the name of college, on the grounds that it would “not only improve the educational status of Somerville in the eyes of the public, but would be understood as implying the desire of Governing Body to raise it above the level of a hall of residence”.