1900
University College, Bristol
Before the University of Bristol was established in 1909, it was predated by University College, Bristol, which existed from 1876 until the founding of the University.
Read more about the University's predecessor institution.
University land acquired
Following years of discussion about forming a West of England University in Bristol, the Blind Asylum, on which the Wills Memorial Building now stands, was purchased with money donated by the Fry and Wills families.
The first committee
The first University Committee is formed, with Lewis Fry as Chairman and Morris Travers as Secretary.
£100,000 gift to establish the University
Henry Overton Wills III, tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer, endows £100,000 for a university for Bristol and the West of England, 'provided a charter be granted within two years of this date'.
Royal Charter granted
King Edward VII grants the University a Royal Charter. Flags fly and bells ring across the city.
Bristol pledges financial support
The Corporation of Bristol grants the proceeds of a 'penny rate' (about £7,000 a year) for the projected university.
Farewell, University College, Bristol
The academic staff of University College, Bristol, the predecessor institution to the University, gather together for the last group photo before the College becomes the University of Bristol. The two women pictured on the left are Miss Pearce (Botany) and Miss Staveley (History).
Read more about the history of University College, Bristol.
First Chancellor appointed
Henry Overton Wills III is appointed first Chancellor of the University.
Future Chancellors include:
Richard Burden Sanderson Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane of Cloan
The Right Honourable Winston Churchill MP
Henry Somerset, the 10th Duke of Beaufort
Professor Dorothy Hodgkin
Sir Jeremy Morse
Right Honourable the Baroness Hale of Richmond
First Vice-Chancellor appointed
Professor Conwy Lloyd Morgan, a psychologist well-known for his experimental work in animal psychology ('Lloyd Morgan's Canon'), serves briefly as first Vice-Chancellor but then resigns and is succeeded by Sir Isambard Owen, nephew of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and son of William George Owen, chief engineer of the Great Western Railway.
Future Vice-Chancellors include:
Professor E. F. Francis
Dr Thomas Loveday
Professor A. M. Tyndall
Philip Morris
Professor John Edward Harris
Professor Arthur Roderick Collar
Professor Alexander Merrison
Professor Peter Haggett
Sir John Kingman
Professor Eric Thomas
Classes start
The University gives its first courses to 288 undergraduates and nearly 400 'other students'. The fees for statics, dynamics and hydro-mechanics, shown right, are £2 and 2 shillings for an hour's tuition per week for three terms, rising to £4 and 4 shillings for five hours' tuition for the same period.
In the same year, women are welcomed on an equal footing to men and Clifton Hill House opens as the first hall of residence for women.
