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The University of Melbourne

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Agent TypeOrganisationIdentifierUMA-AG-000000008Activities & OccupationsEducational institutionsResearch organisationsHistoryThe Act of the Victorian Parliament which established the University Melbourne, received Royal assent on 22 January 1853. The University thus established was state-funded, urban, secular, non-residential and open only to men. It was to offer the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine, Laws and Music, but not Theology. The BA would be taken by all students who entered the University as a general, liberal or cultural education. In April 1853 Governor Hotham selected a University Council of 20 members, consisting of government officials, clergymen and professional men of the city, about one third of whom were graduates of British Universities. To these people was entrusted the governance of the University under the leadership of a Chancellor, who was until 1934 also the Chief Executive Officer of the University. The first Chancellor of the University, Sir Redmond Barry, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (BA 1837; admitted to the Irish Bar 1838) made a significant contribution to the cultural development of Victoria, most notably through his role in the University and as President of the Trustees of the Melbourne Public Library and National Gallery. Hugh Childers held the (then non-executive) position of Vice-Chancellor in the newly created University until his return to England in March 1857. The first salaried, full-time chief executive officer, or vice-chancellor was not provided for in legislation until 1933. The first such vice-chancellor was Raymond E. Priestley, who arrived from the United Kingdom in February 1935. The Registrar was another significant officer appointed immediately. As the chief administrative officer of the University and secretary to the Council, the Registrar and the various departments created under his control as the University grew attended to all matters related to the governance, finance, buildings and grounds, staff and students and adherence to statutory regulations. In the early years, the Registrar was also the Librarian. The University of Melbourne differed in significant ways from all the models available in the United Kingdom and Ireland, most notably in its strictly secular constitution (professors were not to be ordained clergymen) and its decision to appoint professors who would both teach and examine non-residential students in their particular academic expertise. They would communicate their knowledge to students in a public and open way, not cloistered in a small college tutorial as in the Oxford/Cambridge model, nor would they merely examine those who had been tutored elsewhere as in the London model. The first four professors were, therefore, selected at least partly on their perceived ability to impart knowledge to students and to a raw colony with only a handful of university-educated men among its citizenry, but a profound desire to change that situation quickly. A committee of eminent Englishmen chaired by Astronomer Royal G. B. Airy was invited to advise on the selection of the foundation professors, who would receive 1,000 pounds and a free house for life (a handsome inducement), and recommended from among the 90 candidates who presented themselves: Frederick McCoy. Professor of Natural History 1854-1899; Martin Howy Irving, MA Oxford, Professor of Classics, 1856-1871, member of Council 1875-1900, Vice-Chancellor 1887-1889; William Parkinson Wilson, MA Fellow of St John?s College Oxford, Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 1854-1874; William Edward Hearn, MA Trinity College, Dublin, Professor of Greek, Queen?s College, Galway, Professor of Modern Historyand Literature, Political Economy and Logic, 1854-1873, Dean of Law 1873-1888 and Chancellor 1886-87. Although the University of Melbourne was not established on the collegiate model of Oxford and Cambridge, there was a clear expectation that colleges would be built within the grounds to provide supervised residence and some additional tuition. In 1861, the four major Christian denominations were granted a little over 10 acres each upon which to build colleges. The sixteen acres left in the centre of this area was set aside as a recreation ground. The progressive spirit in which local educators agitated for the introduction of science and engineering at the University also extended to the admission of women, firstly to sit for the matriculation exams from 1871, and then to be admitted to study at the University on equal terms with men students from March 1880. There was remarkably little opposition except to the idea of women studying Medicine, or to their participation in the governance of the University. In the following year Julia Margaret (Bella) Guerin, Lydia Harris, Mary Gaunt and Henrietta Hearn joined 342 students enrolled in Arts, Law, Medicine and Engineering. Almost half of these were studying Medicine. Guerin duly graduated as the 255th recipient of the BA in December 1883. She received an MA in 1885.

People and Organisations

Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning (University of Melbourne)

Students' Records Office (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Veterinary Science (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Science (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Music (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Medicine (University Of Melbourne)

Melbourne Law School (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Education (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Economics And Commerce (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Dental Science (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Arts (University of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Architecture, Building And Town And Regional Planning (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Architecture And Planning (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Architecture And Building (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Architecture (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Applied Science (University Of Melbourne)

Faculty Of Agriculture And Forestry (The University of Melbourne)

Board Of Social Studies (The University of Melbourne)

University Assembly (University of Melbourne)

People and Organisations

Grice, John

Zainuddin, Ailsa

Visual Aids Department (The University of Melbourne)

Research Policy and Management Working Group (The University of Melbourne)

Photography and Digital Imaging (The University of Melbourne)

Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) (The University of Melbourne)

Human Experimentation Ethics Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning (University of Melbourne)

Biohazards Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Animal Experimentation Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Academic Staff Development Committee (The University of Melbourne)

University of Melbourne Faculty of Music, Visual and Performing Arts

Women Graduates Centenary Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Wilson Hall Memorial Book (The University of Melbourne)

Wilson Hall Appeal Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Victorian Committee On Colonial Appointments (The University of Melbourne)

Veterinary Research And Building Fund (The University of Melbourne)

Veterinary Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Uranium Information Centre (The University of Melbourne)

Union House (The University of Melbourne)

Trustees Of Agricultural Colleges (The University of Melbourne)

Truganini Scholarships Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Technical Staff Advisory Committee (The University of Melbourne)

Event

University of Melbourne Centenary

[BSM (UMA) Job 135-151] Medical School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 320] Engineering school; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 152] Russell Grimwade School of Biochemistry; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 151] Museum of Anatomy and Pathology; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 150] Biological School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 149] Physiological Laboratory; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 148] Physiological Laboratory; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 147] Physiological and Chemical Schools; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 146] Medical School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 145] Agriculture and Analytical Laboratories; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 144] Biochemistry and Vegetable Pathologist Building; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 143] Biological School for Botany and Histology; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 142] University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 141] Physiological Laboratory; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 140] Chemical School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 139] Biological School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 138] Biological School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 137] Chemical Laboratory; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 136] Medical School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 135] Medical School; University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 131] University of Melbourne

[BSM (UMA) Job 130] University of Melbourne

Place

Old Quad

Mining and Metallurgical School; University of Melbourne

Architectural Atelier; University of Melbourne

Union Building

Conservatorium of Music; University of Melbourne

Engineering school; University of Melbourne

Natural Philosophy School; University of Melbourne

Museum; University of Melbourne

Agriculture and Analytical Laboratories; University of Melbourne

Biochemistry and Vegetable Pathologist Building; University of Melbourne

Biological School for Botany and Histology; University of Melbourne

Physiological Laboratory; University of Melbourne

Chemical School; University of Melbourne

Chemical Laboratory; University of Melbourne

Biological School; University of Melbourne

Medical School; University of Melbourne

Museum of Anatomy and Pathology; University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne Parkville Campus

Accession

Students Representative Council Photograph 1939

[2022.0003] MELBOURNE TEACHERS COLLEGE BLAZER AND PHOTOGRAPHS

[2019.0005] University Correspondence and Legal Arguments Pertaining to the 'George Murray Black' and 'Richard Berry' Collections of Human Remains

[2013.0053] UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. PHOTOGRAPHS

[2011.0049] UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. OBJECT COLLECTION

[2011.0022] University Of Melbourne Calendar

[1985.0172] University Of Melbourne Letter Register

[2017.0024] WILSON HALL AND LIBRARY

[1996.0068] Melbourne University Exhibition booklet

[1993.0176] Records of the University Of Melbourne

[1979.0074] ALMA MATER

[1993.0047] The University of Melbourne Centenary Celebrations book

[1992.0118] UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE PUBLICATIONS

[1991.0126] UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE CALENDARS

[1962.0020] CITY OF LONDON MEDALS

Image

University of Melbourne Quadrangle - View from across the lake

Melbourne Teachers' College group photograph

Pipe and Drum

Plan

[Wilson Hall] Proposed cane screens [Plan, screens in open position, screens in closed position; elevation, screens in open position; section, vertical thro window and screen]

[Wilson Hall] Steps of south-east corner [Elevation, side; section, AA]

Sectional elevation showing completion of Wilson hall

Sheet No. 4 Basement Plan, Roof Plan, Library, Upper Library

Moving Image

The University of Melbourne, 150th Anniversary - 10th May 2003 - 2:30 pm

Dates

Date1853-

University of Melbourne Archives

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The University of Melbourne