 In 1930 she began her studies at Somerville College, Oxford University and she maintained a lifelong connection with the college.She was a Tutor and Fellow from 1941 to 1946, a Lecturer in English from 1946 to 1965 and an Honorary College Research Fellow from 1965 until her death in 2006.On 7 January 1943, Joan Turville-Petre married Gabriel Turville-Petre, a fellow Oxford academic working in the same field.