Mary Letitia Somerville Bennett (9 January 1913 – 1 November 2005) was a British academic, best known for her tenure as Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford

St Hilda's College, Oxford

St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.The college was founded in 1893 as a hall for women, and remained an all-women's college until 2006....

 between 1965 and 1980.

Mary Bennett was the daughter of historian H. A. L. Fisher, and was educated at Oxford High School. She obtained her first degree (in Classics) from Somerville College, Oxford

Somerville College, Oxford

Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...

, and then studied abroad, researching into the grain supply of ancient Rome

Grain supply to the city of Rome

In classical antiquity, the grain supply to the city of Rome could not be met entirely from the surrounding countryside, which was taken up by the villas and parks of the aristocracy and which produced mainly fruit, vegetables and other perishable goods...

. During the Second World War she worked for the British Ministry of Information and for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, and after the war went into the Colonial Office

Colonial Office

Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...

 with responsibility at various times for Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

, Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 and Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. In 1955, she married senior civil servant John Sloman Bennett, who would be happy to take a back seat when she took over as Principal of St Hilda's from Kathleen Major.

In retirement, she wrote up her researches into family history:

• The Ilberts in India, 1882-1886: an Imperial Miniature (1995)
• Who was Dr Jackson? Two Calcutta Families, 1830-1855 (2002)

Sources

• Mary Bennett: an Autobiography (published by St Hilda's College, 2006, no ISBN)