The story
History
Prior to formation
The university's history is linked to the development of Leeds as an international centre for the textile industry and clothing manufacture in the United Kingdom during the Victorian era. The university's roots can be traced back to the formation of schools of medicine in English cities to serve the general public.
The Victoria University was established in Manchester in 1880 as a federal university in the North of England, instead of the government elevating Owens College to a university and grant it a royal charter. Owens College was the sole college of Victoria University from 1880 to 1884; in 1887 Yorkshire College was the third to join the university.
Origins of the Leeds School of Medicine and the Yorkshire College
In 1831, the Leeds School of Medicine was established with the aim of serving the needs of the five medical institutions which had been established in the city. In 1874, the Yorkshire College of Science was created to provide education for the children of middle-class industrialists and merchants. Financial support from local industry was crucial in setting up the college and aiding the students. The university continues to recognise these elements of its history; for example, there is still a Clothworkers' Court on campus.
The College of Science, modelled on Owens College, Manchester, was established in 1851 as non-sectarian, and was open to Protestant Dissenters, Catholics and Jews (though not then to women) since Oxford and Cambridge restricted attendance to members only of the Church of England. University College London was non-sectarian.
The religious qualification ceased in the 1850s but the classics-based education continued at Oxford and Cambridge. The Northern colleges continued to promote themselves as offering a general education that was progressive and pragmatic in nature as were the technical colleges of Germany and the ancient universities upon which they were modelled.
The Yorkshire College of Science began by teaching experimental physics, mathematics, geology, mining, chemistry and biology, and soon became well known as an international centre for the study of engineering and textile technology (due to the manufacturing and textile trades being strong in the West Riding). When classics, modern literature and history went on offer a few years later, the Yorkshire College of Science became simply the Yorkshire College. In 1884, the Yorkshire College absorbed the Leeds School of Medicine and subsequently joined the federal Victoria University (established at Manchester in 1880) on 3 November 1887. Students in this period were awarded external degrees by the University of London.
Victoria University and royal charter
Leeds was given its first university in 1887 when the Yorkshire College joined the federal Victoria University on 3 November. The Victoria University had been established by royal charter in 1880; Owens College being at first the only member college. Leeds now found itself in an educational union with close social cousins from Manchester and Liverpool.
Unlike Owens College, the Leeds campus of the Victoria University had never barred women from its courses. However, it was not until special facilities were provided at the Day Training College in 1896 that women began enrolling in significant numbers. The first female student to begin a course at the university was Lilias Annie Clark, who studied Modern Literature and Education. In 1904 Leeds University wanted to encourage more women students. It decided to pay the unprecedented salary of £400 per annum to Hannah Robertson who took on a double role of "Mistress of Method" in the Education department and as the Tutor of Women.
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The Victoria University was a short-lived concept, as the constituent colleges in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds were keen to establish themselves as separate, independent universities. This was partially due to the potential benefits independent universities had for the cities, whilst the institutions were also unhappy with the practical difficulties posed by maintaining a federal arrangement across broad distances. This was further spurred by the granting of a charter to the University of Birmingham in 1900 after lobbying from Joseph Chamberlain.
Following a royal charter and the act of Parliament, Liverpool University Act 1903, the University of Liverpool gained independence and began the fragmentation of the Victoria University. The Yorkshire College soon followed suit and was granted a royal charter as the University of Leeds by King Edward VII in 1904.
2000 to present
The Victoria University continued after the break-up of the group, with an amended constitution and renamed as the Victoria University of Manchester (though "Victoria" was usually omitted from its name except in formal usage) until September 2004. On 1 October 2004 a merger with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was enacted to form The University of Manchester.
In December 2004, financial pressures forced the university's governing body (the Council) to decide to close the Bretton campus. Activities at Bretton were moved to the main university campus in the summer of 2007 (allowing all Bretton-based students to complete their studies there). There was substantial opposition to the closure by the Bretton students. The university's other satellite site, Manygates in Wakefield, also closed, but Lifelong Learning and Healthcare programmes are continuing on a new site next to Wakefield College.
In May 2006, the university began re-branding itself to consolidate its visual identity to promote one consistent image. A new logo was produced, based on that used during the centenary celebrations in 2004, to replace the combined use of the modified university arms and the Parkinson Building, which has been in use since 2004. The university arms will still be used in its original form for ceremonial purposes only. Four university colours were also specified as being green, red, black and beige.
Leeds provides the local community with over 2,000 university student volunteers. With 8,700 staff employed in 2019–20, the university is the third largest employer in Leeds and contributes around £1.23bn a year to the local economy – students add a further £211m through rents and living costs.The university's educational partnerships have included providing formal accreditation of degree awards to Leeds College of Art and Leeds Trinity University College, although the latter now has the power to award its own degrees. The College of the Resurrection, an Anglican theological college in Mirfield with monastic roots, has, since its inception in 1904, been affiliated to the university, and ties remain close. The university is also a founding member of the Northern Consortium.
In August 2010, the university was one of the most targeted institutions by students entering the UCAS clearing process for 2010 admission, which matches undersubscribed courses to students who did not meet their firm or insurance choices. The university was one of nine Russell Group universities offering extremely limited places to "exceptional" students after the universities in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford declared they would not enter the process due to courses being full to capacity.
On 12 October 2010, The Refectory of the Leeds University Union hosted a live edition of the Channel 4 News, with students, academics and economists expressing their reaction to the Browne Review, an independent review of Higher Education funding and student finance conducted by John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley. University of Leeds Vice-Chancellor and Russell Group chairman Michael Arthur participated, giving an academic perspective alongside current vice-chancellor of Kingston University and former Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Education at the University of Leeds, Sir Peter Scott. Midway through the broadcast a small group of protesters against the potential rise of student debt entered the building before being restrained and evacuated.
In 2016, The University of Leeds became University of the Year 2017 in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. The university has risen to 13th place overall, which reflects impressive results in student experience, high entry standards, services and facilities, and graduate prospects.
In 2022, the global world ranking of the University of Leeds is 86. There are currently 36,840 students studying at the university. The average tuition fee is £9,250 (~$12,000–12,500) per year, although there are cases where there are partial subsidies towards this cost.
Other history
St George's Field, part of the University of Leeds campus, is the former Woodhouse Cemetery, where is buried Pablo Fanque (William Darby), who was a black circus proprietor for 30 years during the Victorian period. Fanque's wife, Susannah Darby, is also buried at the cemetery. There is a monument that Fanque erected to her, and a smaller monument to him. John Lennon referenced Fanque in The Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. On 8 October 2010, the Leeds University Union, as part of the university's annual Light Night celebration, unveiled a commemorative plaque at Fanque's and Darby's gravesite.
There are several Blue Plaques on the campus, including those awarded to Clifford Allbutt and William Henry Bragg.
Over the weekend of the 16–17 March 1974, the UK's first national trans conference ‘Transvestism and Transsexualism in Modern Society’, organised by the Beaumont Society, was held at the University of Leeds.
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Leeds, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5