University College, Liverpool was founded in 1881. In 1903 the University College was granted a Royal Charter and could award its own degrees, the name was then changed to the University of Liverpool.
The first time the prospect of establishing a University in Liverpool was formally presented to the people of Liverpool was during a Town's Meeting on May 24th 1878. The principal resolution put forward by the promoters of founding a University in Liverpool was:
"That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that a College be established in Liverpool to provide such instruction in all the branches of a liberal education as would enable residents in the town and neighbourhood to qualify for degrees in Arts, Science, and other subjects...and at at the same time to give such technical instruction as would be of immediate service in professional and commercial life." (p.44, Thomas Kelly, For Advancement of Learning : the University of Liverpool, 1881-1981)
Thirty leading townsmen were nominated as a committee, with the Mayor as Chairman ex officio, charged with the task of drawing up a scheme for the establishment of the College. A report was finished on 7th November and proposed that University College Liverpool should be the title of the new institution and recommending as the minimum necessary the establishment of seven Professorships, in subjects such as the Classics, Mathematics, Engineering, Philosophy, History, and the Sciences.
The City of Liverpool's widespread desire for a University of its own became apparent through the steady stream of generous benefactions that helped to fund the establishment of a University, with donations received from all sections of society. Through the generosity of the City Council a suitable site for the College was found in the heart of the city: a block of buildings with three or four acres of land which were previously occupied by a portion of the Royal Infirmary, and immediately adjoining the long established Medical School. Alterations to the building were carried out by the distinguished Liverpool-born architect Alfred Waterhouse and finished in 1882.
University College, Liverpool received its Royal Charter of Incorporation on October 18th 1881. The Charter decreed that the Earl of Derby was appointed the President, Mr. William Rathbone, M.P., and Mr. Christopher Bushell the Vice-Presidents, and Mr. Robert Gladstone the Treasurer of the College. The supreme governing body was to be the Court of Governors, while very large executive powers were entrusted to the Council (mainly composed of elected representatives of the Governors), and the Senate (consisting of the College Professors). The post of Principal was filled in June 1881 by the appointment of Mr. G. H. Rendall who was assigned the Chair of Classics and Ancient History. The College was opened to students in January 1882, in June 1884 the Liverpool Royal Infirmary School of Medicine became part of University College, and became the Medical Faculty of University College, Liverpool. In November 1884 University College Liverpool was admitted as a constituent College of the Victoria University, a federal University comprising Colleges in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. Beginning with just 45 students, in just a decade the University College boasted 250 registered students per term: very small by modern standards but a considerable increase nevertheless.
Professor of History John Macdonald Mackay was a driving force behind the break away from the Victoria University and the establishment of an independent University. In 1903 following a Royal Charter University College Liverpool became the University of Liverpool, being granted the power to confer degrees. The new constitution retained the Court, Council and Senate but also put more emphasis on the role of the Faculties. The current University Charter was granted by H.M. The Queen in 1961 and amended in 1969. The University continues to expand and the University Archives record the history of the University from its foundation to the present day.
