Royal Holloway College , Secretary's Department

The Secretary acted as the administrative officer of the Governors. Responsibilities of the post included dealing with the College accounts, the ordering of supplies and the maintenance of College buildings and property, as well as taking minutes of meetings and preparing official correspondence. On the death of the first Secretary of the Governors, Mr J L Clifford-Smith, in 1898, the decision was taken that in future a woman should fill the post. The appointment of Dorothy Hustler in 1948 led to the reorganisation of the College accounts, and she was also responsible for ongoing negotiations for the purchase of surrounding properties, in order to facilitate the expansion of the College in the 1950s. 1969 saw the establishment of a separate Accounts Department. Titled the Secretary to the Governors until 1949, the postholder then became known as the College Secretary.