University College, Bristol
Encyclopedia
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al institution which existed from 1876 to 1909. It was the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, which gained a Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 1909. During its time the College mainly served the middle-classes of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, and catered for young men whom had entered a family business and needed a greater understanding of scientific topics.
Origins
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
can be traced as far back as 1872 and the attempts of John Percival
John Percival (bishop)
John Percival was the first Headmaster of Clifton College, where he made his reptutation as a great educator. In his 17 years at Clifton numbers rose from 62 to 680. He accepted the Presidency of Trinity College, Oxford to recover from his exhaustive years at Clifton...
, a local educationalist and headmaster of Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, to press for the creation of a college. Percival was a supporter of the education of women, having founded an Association for the Promotion of the Higher Education of Women in 1868, and an Association for the Promotion of Evening Classes a year later. Percival's strong Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
religious views (he later became a Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
) influenced his views on education, in that he believed that opportunities should be available to both males and females irrespective of their declared faith. He is credited with the initial idea that there should be a University in Bristol. Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry DL, was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900.-Early life:...
, a later influence on the College and the subsequent University, is quoted as saying that it was to Pervical that they owed the foundation of the College.
In 1872 Percival wrote a letter to the Oxford colleges noting the lack of a University culture in the provinces. He also canvassed support when Bristol Medical School
Bristol Medical School
Bristol Medical School was a medical institution which existed from 1833 to 1893. It later became amalgamated with University College, Bristol the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol....
was looking for a new building and in 1873 he suggested to the Medical School Council that they both approach the Bristol Museum and Library Society to attempt to establish a College. This allowed the creation of a committee to promote the scheme led by the Dean of Bristol, which contained prominent Bristol politicians from the Liberal and Conservative Parties and members representing local industry. It was in July 1876 that the Medical School agreed to affiliate with the College in return for the promise that it would be supplied with additional space to expand, a promise which was eventually honoured three years later. This building now houses the University of Bristol's Department of Geography.
In 1873 Percival wrote a pamphlet entitled The Connection of the Universities and the Great Towns which was met with a positive response from Benjamin Jowett
Benjamin Jowett
Benjamin Jowett was renowned as an influential tutor and administrative reformer in the University of Oxford, a theologian and translator of Plato. He was Master of Balliol College, Oxford.-Early career:...
, a connection of Percival, who at this time was the Master of Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. His promise of sponsorship initially helped the project. It was Percival's connections with the colleges of the Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
which helped in lobbying for the creation of the University. Percival was able to agree that the Master of Balliol College would subscribe £300 to the project, on the terms that adult education was catered for and that the College catered for the arts as well as the sciences.
Victoria Rooms (Bristol)
The Victoria Rooms, also known as the Vic Rooms, houses the University of Bristol's music department in Clifton, Bristol, England, on a prominent site at the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road...
hosted a meeting to promote what was described as a College of Science and Literature for the West of England and South Wales. The meeting was attended by the then President of the British Association and Sir William Thompson (later Lord Kelvin). This meeting has been described as a partial success, as it gained the support of Albert Fry
Albert Fry
Albert Fry was a businessman and a member of the influential Fry family. Fry was the owner of the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works Company Ltd which he acquired in 1851. He was important in the development of the drainage plow....
and Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry DL, was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900.-Early life:...
, members of the influential Fry family (the Fry name being known for the chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
business set up by their grandfather and developed by their father Joseph Storrs Fry
Joseph Storrs Fry
Joseph Storrs Fry was an English chocolate and confectionery manufacturer and a member of the Fry Family of Bristol, England.-Early life:He was born in 1767, son of Joseph Fry and his wife Anna...
). Lewis Fry was a Quaker, lawyer and later a Liberal and Unionist Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from 1885-1892 and 1895-1890 for the constituency Bristol North. Albert Fry
Albert Fry
Albert Fry was a businessman and a member of the influential Fry family. Fry was the owner of the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works Company Ltd which he acquired in 1851. He was important in the development of the drainage plow....
also gained distinction as the founder of the Bristol Wagon and Carriage and Works Co. However, the fact that the project attracted large numbers of Quakers, Non-Conformists
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
and Liberals meant that the project was labelled as such an institution. Tories made some initial grants to the project but soon focused their interest on a rival institution through the Society of Merchant Venturers
Society of Merchant Venturers
The Society of Merchant Venturers is a private entrepreneurial and charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol, which dates back to the 13th century...
which was considered mostly Conservative in politics. Ironically, the Society of Merchant Venturers
Society of Merchant Venturers
The Society of Merchant Venturers is a private entrepreneurial and charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol, which dates back to the 13th century...
,which was to became a rival institution during much of the College's history, made a gift of £1000 at this point.
Despite this initial donation, a lack of funds was to plague University College, Bristol up until the donations which allowed it to lobby for a Royal Charter. Initially the financial response to the meeting was disappointing, with the College gaining only £25,991 of the £40,000 funds which it asked for. It was at this stage that the Wills family became involved in the project with Henry Overton Wills donating £250 to the project. The lacklustre response to the call for funds had the immediate result of delaying the opening of the College until 1876, and meant that when it did open it was under the most stringent financial conditions. Shelborne notes that the setting up of the College struggled due to the fact that Bristol lacked a significant industry which saw benefit in the creation a college, an absence of the nouveaux riches, and no philanthropic industrialists who wished to highlight the importance of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
Opening of University College, Bristol
University College, Bristol opened on Tuesday 10 October 1876 at 9.00 a.m. with a MathematicsMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
lecture by a Mr W. R. Bousfield, who also lectured in higher maths an hour later. The charges for such a course were three guineas for two lectures each week during the Christmas and Easter terms; a student also had to pay 7s as an entrance fee to enroll. At its opening in 1876, two professors and five lecturers offered lectures in fifteen subject areas. The college was situated at 32 Park Avenue and was rented for £50 per annum. As requested by Jowett when giving money, the College was open to men and women on the same basis (except in medicine), The College offered scholarships the most valuable of which was one in Chemistry worth £25. General scholarships of £15 were also available. Despite the label of ‘University’ however, the institution did not have the power to award degrees to its students. There were however links with the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
which allowed the external sitting of these examinations and the Cambridge Local Higher Examinations useful for those who wished to become teachers.
During the first year 30 men and 69 women registered for classes and there were 238 evening classes, which cost five shillings with a registration fee of one shilling. The buildings rented were used by the College as a deaf and dumb institute. In its early years the College was very poor. The college had raised £23,437, just short of the £25,000 that it was suggested was required at the Victoria Rooms meeting, but in reality this sum fell well short of what would be sufficient. Much of the Colleges' initial money was spent on acquiring land such as that beside Rifle Drill Hall, next to where Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England. The school was founded in 1532 by two brothers, Robert and Nicholas Thorne....
now stands.
Several lecturers at the College achieved reputations in their own subject fields, including Henry Selby Hele-Shaw
Henry Selby Hele-Shaw
Henry Selby Hele-Shaw FRS was an English mechanical and automobile engineer. He was the inventor of the variable-pitch propeller, which contributed to British success in the Battle of Britain in 1940, and he experimented with flows through thin cells. Flows through such configurations are named in...
(Engineering), Silvanus Thompson (Physics), and William Johnson Sollas
William Johnson Sollas
William Johnson Sollas FRS was a British geologist and anthropologist. After studying at the City of London School, the Royal College of Chemistry and the Royal School of Mines he matriculated to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded First Class Honours in geology...
(Geography). The College lacked any kind of formal syllabus
Syllabus
A syllabus , is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in an education or training course. It is descriptive...
. Students' reasons for entering the College were varied, with some, such as G.H. Leonard (who later became a professor at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
), using their time there as preparation for the Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
scholarship examination. One female student is said to have attended "in order to improve after dinner conversation". However by the 1880s University College, Bristol could be said to be producing its first graduates.
Jowett's connections with Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall was an Englishman and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book, Principles of Economics , was the dominant economic textbook in England for many years...
allowed him to pick Marshall as the first principal of the College. Marshall is now considered to be one of the most dominant figures in world economics at the beginning of the 20th Century. Marshall came to Bristol as a result of his marriage to one his students Mary Paley at St. John's
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, which required his immediate resignation of his fellowship there in Moral Science. Marshall taught evening classes to young businessmen while his wife taught during the day to ladies. Her salary was deducted from his wages. Today Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall was an Englishman and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book, Principles of Economics , was the dominant economic textbook in England for many years...
has a building of the University of Bristol named after him in recognition of his early influence on the foundation of the University.
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
Professor William Ramsay
William Ramsay
Sir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" .-Early years:Ramsay was born in Glasgow on 2...
replacing Marshall in the post.
Ramsay is said to have brought great energy to the talk of improving the College. He embarked on a round of after-dinner parties to promote the College, and in 1883 he was able to build a purpose-built laboratory. In 1884 the College came close to bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
when the Treasurer announced that funds would dry up within two months. The College survived, but two professors were given notice of dismissal and their departments were placed on a self-supporting notice. At this time Welsh colleges were able to receive financial support but not English ones, so English colleges therefore decided to lobby the Government for funding. The result was that English colleges would receive a grant of £15000, of which Bristol gained the modest share of £1,200. Ramsay resigned his post in 1887 after being appointed Chair of Chemistry at University College, London. Although no longer Principal, after his resignation he used his influence to lobby the College council to appoint his assistant Morris Travers
Morris Travers
Morris William Travers , the founding director of the Indian Institute of Science, was an English chemist who worked along with Sir William Ramsay in the discovery of xenon, neon and krypton...
to the Chair of Chemistry when the position became vacant. Travers is credited with pushing forward the Charter campaign durinng the beginning of the 20th century.
When Conwy Lloyd Morgan was appointed he was only given the lesser title of Dean of University College, Bristol, and it was only in 1891 when finances had improved that he was given the title of Principal. Morgan had come to Bristol in 1884 from a post in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Today he is considered to be one of the first experimental psychologists, but he came to Bristol to replace the geology teacher William Johnson Sollas
William Johnson Sollas
William Johnson Sollas FRS was a British geologist and anthropologist. After studying at the City of London School, the Royal College of Chemistry and the Royal School of Mines he matriculated to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded First Class Honours in geology...
. He is considered to have coined much of the terminology regarding contemporary animal science
Animal science
Animal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...
. At Bristol he became fully involved in the campaign to gain the College a Royal Charter.
The financial problems of the College were based upon the fact that there had been a failure to find a 'local Carnegie' - a business magnate who could finance the University by providing endowments and financing the payment of staff. The passing of the Technical Instruction Act empowered local authorities to level a rate for technical instruction. Bristol was able to apply for a further £2,000 in funds and a further £500 was gained in return for an agreement that free places would be made available to some students. This money was used to build an Engineering block. A few months earlier the Medical School building had been finished and formally incorporated into the College. In was not until 1899 that the College began to receive any kind of state funding, leading one lecturer to joke that the motto of the College should be not Knowledge is power but College is poor; until this time the college was wholly dependent upon the student fees paid for the courses. However, the College was expanded as finances allowed during the 1890s after it had teetered on the edge of bankruptcy several times the decade before.
By 1897 some anxiety was caused by the opening of a Bristol Technical College which began to draw some of the students who would have attended University College, Bristol. However, it is argued that this threat was more imaginary than real as the University College was able to cater for more academic interests.
Campaign for a Royal Charter
Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry DL, was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900.-Early life:...
. They were aware that was it not for the anonymous donations made to the College (by a Mr Fenwick Richards) during the last century there would have been bankruptcy. The establishment of the University Colston Society (named after one of Bristol’s great benefactors Edward Colston
Edward Colston
Edward Colston was a Bristol-born English merchant and Member of Parliament. Much of his wealth, although used often for philanthropic purposes, was acquired through the trade and exploitation of slaves...
) was the impetus for the campaign to create a University for Bristol and the West of England. It was non-political and was aimed at shaking off the image that the College was a Liberal institution as it was recognized broad political support needed to be generated in order for the plan to become a University to succeed. The first Society Dinner was held on the 7 December 1899 with the guest speaker James Byrce (later Viscount Bryce).
In 1900 a committee was set under the Chairmanship of the Bishop of Bristol
Bishop of Bristol
The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire...
. However, the committee only ever had one meeting after the first resulted in the announcement that a report into the viability of a University for Bristol would require a Registrar at a cost of £1000 per annum. There was some debate as to whether an autonomous University should be formed for Bristol and the West of England or whether a federal organization should be created which included University College, Bristol as well as Merchant Venturers' Technical College as possibly the colleges of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. Lord Haldane had proposed the idea of a federal University as a compromise but it failed to increase support.
Morris Travers
Morris Travers
Morris William Travers , the founding director of the Indian Institute of Science, was an English chemist who worked along with Sir William Ramsay in the discovery of xenon, neon and krypton...
who gained the post of lecture in Chemistry at the College is generally credited with pushing forward the campaign to gain a Charter by courting the local press and pressing for the support of the Fry brothers who held power on the City power continuously from 1882 and 1909. There is evidence that Marhshall had told Travers to reject the compromise idea of a federal University and push for a Bristol University. Travers spoke to Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry DL, was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900.-Early life:...
head of the College Council on 1 February 1905 and was able to make Fry write to relatives to increase support. Lewis Fry was able to get the Conservative Chairman of the City Education Committee to agree to the idea of setting up a University. Travers wrote pamphlets advocating the University and editorials were written for the Bristol Times supporting the University.
By 1905 it could be stated that the national Government were supportive of the idea of setting up a University in Bristol. Here, two piece of fortune occurred. The Blind Asylum on Queen's Rd at the top of Park Street
Park Street, Bristol
Park Street is a main street in Bristol, England, linking the city centre to Clifton. It forms part of the A4018.The building of Park Street started in 1761 and it was Bristol's earliest example of uniformly stepped hillside terracing. The street runs from College Green up a steep incline...
, where the Wills Memorial Building
Wills Memorial Building
The Wills Memorial Building is a Neo Gothic building designed by Sir George Oatley and built as a memorial to Henry Overton Wills III...
now stands, came up for sale. Travers picked up a telephone line which was shared with the Asylum and was able to eavesdrop
Eavesdrop
To eavesdrop, used as a verb, refers to eavesdropping, the act of surreptitiously listening to a private conversation.As a noun, in architecture, it can refer to:...
and hear the conversation which stated that the Trustees were preparing to sell. Although with a price of £40,000 for the land it seemed unlikely the College could afford to purchase the plot. But, on 11 January 1906 William Travers was told by Lewis Fry that he had been promised the money to purchase the plot by several members of the Fry family and Wills Family. His brother Joseph Storrs Fry (£10,000), cousin Francis Fry
Francis Fry
-Life:Fry was born at Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol, on 28 October 1803, the second son of Joseph Storrs Fry. He was educated at a large school at Fishponds, in the neighbourhood of Frenchay, kept by a Quaker named Joel Lean, and began business training at Croydon....
(£5,000), Sir William Henry Wills (£10,000) and Sir Fredrick Wills (£5,000). It was the Wills and Fry families who were the chief benefactors of what became the University of Bristol. Joseph Storrs Fry was a successful businessman but the wealth of the Fry family was small in relation to that of the Wills. Frederick Wills
Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet
Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet was a businessman in the United Kingdom. He was a director of W. D. & H. O. Wills, which later merged into the Imperial Tobacco Company....
had sat on University College councils and between 1900 and 1906 was the sitting MP for Bristol North, the seat that was previously occupied by Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry
Lewis Fry DL, was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900.-Early life:...
. William Henry Wills was first chairman of Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
and his families personal estate was estimated to make the Wills family one of the richest families in the land.
The second fortunate event occurred in January 1906 when the Merchant Venturers' Technical College was destroyed by fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
. The Merchant Venturers saw University College, Bristol as dominated by Liberals and therefore supported the Bristol Trade School instead. The fire made the organization worried about its future and removed any objection which they would have to the creation of a University.
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. Travers can be credited with significantly moving forward the project but the issue of finances remained still remained.
On the 14 January 1908 at the annual College Colston society dinner George Alfred Wills rose to his feet and dramatically announced the news that his father, Henry Overton, was to donate £100,000 to the cause promoting the creation of the University providing that a Royal Charter was obtained within two years. Records note that the room began to cheer after the announcement was made. This announcement caused further funds to be promised by those attending the University. The day ended with the University endowment fund standing at five times greater than it had at the start with the University scheme attracting more in 24-hours than it did in its entire history. The raising of such large firms meant that the Privy Council could not argue that the creation of what were then disparagingly known as ‘Lilliputian’ Universities would in any way result in a decrease in the standard of British universities. H.O. Wills had little contact with the College apart from the fact that he had sent his son Harry to classes there. He died in 1911 after becoming the first Chancellor of the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
. The Wills Memorial Building was built by his two surviving sons in memory at a cost of £500,000. The impact of the Wills family upon the University can also be founding in the naming of the H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory built by George in memory of his brother which cost some £200,000 and the building of Wills Hall
Wills Hall
Wills Hall is one of the nine halls of residence in the University of Bristol. Cresting the Stoke Bishop site on the edge of the Bristol Downs, in Parry's Lane, it houses 340 students in two quadrangles...
, a hall of residence for the University in Stoke Bishop
Stoke Bishop
Stoke Bishop is a very affluent and medium-sized outer city suburb in the north-west of Bristol, located in between Westbury-on-Trym, Sneyd Park, and Sea Mills. Although relatively small, Stoke Bishop's population has increased due to substantial infilling on the Smelting Works sports ground and...
. Unlike many of the supporters of the University the Wills were not Liberals or Quakers but Congregationalists.
Later an agreement with the Merchant Venturers was made with the organization being merged with the Colleges' Engineering Department to create a new Faculty of Engineering. All teaching was to take place in the Merchant Venturers Building. The principal Julius Wertheimer was left with little bargaining power after the destruction of his own institutions buildings. As government funding was linked to endowment this massive endowment created further wealth for the college. Later in 1908 a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
was presented to the Privy Council representing the Views of the University Committee. On 24 May 1909 Bristol University, as it then became known gained its Royal Charter allowing it to award degrees after the King in Privy Council assented to the creation of a University. Flags were flown from public buildings in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and the city's church bells hang out on receiving the news.
List of Principals
University College, Bristol existed from 1877 to 1909 after which it became the University of BristolUniversity of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
.
- Alfred MarshallAlfred MarshallAlfred Marshall was an Englishman and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book, Principles of Economics , was the dominant economic textbook in England for many years...
(1877-1881) - Marshall was also a lecturer on political economy. His wife Mary Paley MarshallMary Paley MarshallMary Paley Marshall , born Mary Paley, was an economist and one of the first women to study at Cambridge University....
also taught at the College giving day classes to young ladies. - Sir William Ramsay (1881 -1887)
- Conwy Lloyd Morgan (1887 - 1909)
Further reading
- University College, Bristol: pioneering teacher training for women, J. B. Thomas, Journal of the History of Education Society 17(1), March 1988 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a739652391~db=all~order=page
- University College, Bristol, J.W. Shelborne 1977 - Issued by the Bristol branch of the Historical Association The University Bristol
- A University of Bristol, D. Cartleton (1984), University of Bristol Press