As the second Cambridge college founded for women (after Girton College and before New Hall College), Newham was founded in 1871 by moral philospher, Henry Sidgwick, a believer in women's rights and their entitlement to higher education. The attractive Queen Anne buildings with Dutch red brick gables and white woodwork are set in gardens. Newnham was granted a college charter in 1917 and women received their first degrees in 1948.