Clara Mordan, 1844 – 1915, the daughter of Augustus Mordan, was born in South Kensington. A supporter of women's suffrage after attending with her father a speech on the subject given by John Stuart Mill, she joined the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage in 1888.
At a meeting of a feminist society in London in 1896 a paper was presented by Annie Rogers on "The Present Position of Women at Oxford” and Clara became interested in the position of Oxford women's colleges. In 1901 she visited Oxford with her friend Mary Gray Allen, and decided St Hugh's was the college most in need of help. She sent a cheque for £1000 to found a scholarship bearing her name on condition that no student should practise vivisection while holding the scholarship.
In 1900 Clara Mordan became a member of the executive committee of the Central Society for Women's Suffrage. Following a speech in 1906 by Annie Kenney, having been until then a loyal supporter of the policies of the National Union of Suffrage Societies, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She went on to give several speeches on behalf of the WSPU including in 1908 in Bristol and Plymouth. On her release from prison in January 1909 Emmeline Pankhurst was presented by Clara with an amethyst, pearl and emerald necklace.
Clara Mordan, who never married, died on 22nd January 1915 at 18 Marine Mansions, Bexhill, East Sussex. She left a bequest of £11,000 to St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
