![Queen Mary University of London coat of arms](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Queen_Mary_University_of_London_coat_of_arms.svg)
The history of Queen Mary University of London lies in the mergers, over the years, of four older colleges: Queen Mary College,
Westfield College
Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
,
St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College
, mottoeng = Temper the bitter things in life with a smile
, parent = Queen Mary University of London
, president = Lord Mayor of London
, head_label = Warden
, head = Mark Caulfield
, students = 3,410
, undergrad = 2,23 ...
and the
London Hospital Medical College
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...
. In 1989 Queen Mary merged with Westfield College to form "Queen Mary & Westfield College". Although teaching began at the London Hospital Medical College in 1785, it did not become part of Queen Mary until 1995. In that same year the two medical schools merged to form the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary & Westfield College.
In 2000, the college adopted the working title of Queen Mary, University of London, while retaining the legal name Queen Mary and Westfield College. In 2013 the legal name of the institution was changed to Queen Mary University of London.
People's Palace
Queen Mary College was founded in the mid
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
when growing awareness of conditions in London's
East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
led to drives to provide facilities for local inhabitants, popularised in the 1882 novel ''All Sorts of Conditions of Men – An Impossible Story'' by
Walter Besant
Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant.
Early life and education
The son of wine merchant Will ...
, which told of how a rich and clever couple from
Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
went to the East End to build a "Palace of Delight, with concert halls, reading rooms, picture galleries, art and designing schools." Although not directly responsible for the conception of the People's Palace, the novel did much to popularise it.
The trustees of the Beaumont Trust, administering funds left by
Barber Beaumont
John Thomas Barber Beaumont (1774–1841) was a British army officer, painter, author, and philanthropist. He was successful in the insurance business, and projected a settlement in South America.
Life
Born John Thomas Barber on 21 December 17 ...
, purchased the site of the former Bancroft's School from the
Drapers' Company
The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. It has the formal name The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Dr ...
. On 20 May 1885 the Drapers' Court of Assistants resolved to grant £20,000 "for the provision of the technical schools of the People's Palace." The foundation stone was laid on 28 June 1886 and on 14 May 1887
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
opened the palace's Queen's Hall as well as laying the foundation stone for the technical schools in the palace's east wing.
The technical schools were opened on 5 October 1888, with the entire palace completed by 1892. When opening them, the Master of the Drapers' Company declared their aims to be "to improve the scientific and technical knowledge of apprentices and workmen engaged in industrial life". However others saw the technical schools as one day becoming a technical university for the East End. The conflicting demands of pleasure and education were identified by the Assistant Charity Commissioner as early as 1891 and for the next forty years this was to dog the People's Palace. In 1892 the Drapers' Company provided £7,000 a year for ten years to guarantee the educational side income.
East London College
Expansion
The classes reached a peak of 8000 tickets in 1892–1893 but fell to less than half for the following year, due to competition from the London School Board, despite the palace's classes being more advanced. With the level of teaching growing, in 1895
John Leigh Smeathman Hatton
Professor John Leigh Smeathman (27 May 1865 – 13 January 1933) was a mathematician and Principal of East London College, England, one of the founding colleges of what is now Queen Mary College, part of London University. He was also Vice Chancel ...
, Director of Evening Classes (1892–1896; later Director of Studies 1896–1908 and Principal 1908–1933), proposed introducing a course of study leading to the Bachelor of Science degree of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. By the start of the 20th century the first degrees were awarded and Hatton, along with several other professors, were recognised as teachers of the University of London. In 1906 an application for parliamentary funds "for the aid of Educational Institutions engaged in work of a University nature", led to the college being told it was "of the highest importance that there should be a School of the University in the faculties of Arts, Science and Engineering within easy reach of the very large population of the East End of London." The educational part of the People's Palace was admitted on an initial three-year trial basis as a school of the University of London on 15 May 1907 as East London College.
Aeronautics
Teaching of aeronautical engineering began in 1907 which led to the first UK aeronautical engineering department being established in 1909 which boasted a ground-breaking
wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
, thus creating the oldest aeronautical pogramme in the world. A. P. Thurston, a former student at the college gaining a first class degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1906, was encouraged and financially supported by P. Y. Alexander, a wealthy aeronautical enthusiast and acquaintance, and J. L. Hatton, the then principal, to start regular courses of lectures in aeronautics.
Thurston gradually brought in more and more skilled aeronautical engineers, and with the newly built laboratory, started giving lectures in aeronautics ("Flying machines", "Balloons, airships and kites", "The mechanical principles of flight") and started extensive research on fundamental matters such as the characteristics of wing sections and propellers, structural and material characteristics, and the forces on struts, leading to use in military aircraft for the First World War.
1910 to 1934
In 1910 the college's status in the University of London was extended for a further five years, with unlimited membership achieved in May 1915. During this period the organisation of the governors of the People's Palace was rearranged, creating the separate People's Palace Committee and East London College Committee, both under the palace governors, as a sign of the growing separation of the two concepts within a single complex.
During the First World War the college admitted students from the
London Hospital Medical College
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...
who were preparing for the preliminary medical examination, the first step in a long process that would eventually bring the two institutions together. After the war, the college grew, albeit constrained by the rest of the People's Palace to the west and a burial ground immediately to the east. In 1920 it obtained both the palace's Rotunda (now the Octagon) and rooms under the winter gardens at the west of the palace, which became chemical laboratories. The college's status was also unique, being the only School of the University of London that was subject to both the Charity Commissioners and the
Board of Education
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
. In April 1929 the College Council decided it would take the steps towards applying to the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
for a
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
, but on the advice of the Drapers' Company first devised a scheme for development and expansion, which recommended amongst other things to reamalgamate the People's Palace and the college, with guaranteed provision of the Queen's Hall for recreational purposes, offering at least freedom of governance if not in space.
Queen Mary College
Granting of the royal charter
In the early hours of 25 February 1931 a fire destroyed the Queen's Hall, although both the college and the winter gardens escaped. In the coming days discussions on reconstruction led to the proposal that the entire site be transferred to the college which would then apply for a charter alone. The Drapers' Company obtained St Helen's Terrace, a row of six houses neighbouring the site, and in July 1931 it was agreed to give these over to the People's Palace for a new site adjacent to the old, which would now become entirely the domain of the college. Separation was now achieved. The charter was now pursued, but the Academic Board asked for a name change, feeling that "east London" carried unfortunate associations that would hinder the college and its graduates. With the initial proposed name, "Queen's College", having already been taken by
another institution and "Victoria College" felt to be unoriginal, "Queen Mary College" was settled on. The charter of incorporation was presented on 12 December 1934 by
Queen Mary herself.
Second World War and Post-War period
![Queens' Building (2899476115)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Queens%27_Building_%282899476115%29.jpg)
During the Second World War the college was evacuated to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, where it shared with
King's College. Meanwhile, the Mile End site was requisitioned for war work and was for a time used as the Municipal Offices of Stepney Borough Council. After the war the college returned to London, facing many of the same problems but with prospects for westward expansion.
The East End had suffered considerable bomb damage (although the college itself had incurred little) and consequently several areas of land near to the college site now became vacant. The former church of St Benets' to the immediate east of the college was now defunct and was demolished in 1950, with the space used to build a new block for
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
, but most of the acquisitions in the immediate post war years were to the west of the college. Even the new People's Palace was no longer able to meet its needs and it was acquired by the college along with several pieces of land that together formed a significant continuous stretch along the
Mile End Road
The A11 is a major trunk road in England. It runs roughly north east from London to Norwich, Norfolk, although after the M11 opened in the 1970s and then the A12 extension in 1999, a lengthy section has been downgraded between the suburbs o ...
. New buildings for engineering, biology and chemistry were built on the new sites, whilst the arts took over the space vacated in the original building, now renamed the Queens' Building (to reflect the support and patronage of both Queen Mary and
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
).
Limited accommodation resulted in the acquisition of further land in
South Woodford
South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-east of ...
(now directly connected to
Mile End tube station
Mile End is a London Underground station in Mile End, London. It is served by the Hammersmith & City, District and Central lines. This station features a cross-platform interchange in both directions, District and Hammersmith & City lines stop ...
by means of the
Central line's eastward extension), upon which tower blocks were established. Consequently, student numbers continued to expand. The college also obtained the Co-operative Wholesale Society's clothing factory on the Mile End Road which was converted into a building for the Faculty of Laws (and some other teaching), as well as the former headquarters of
Spratt's
Spratt's was the world's first large-scale manufacturer of dog biscuits. The company successfully promoted their array of products for dogs and other domestic animals through the astute use of snob appeal. The company was the first to erect a bill ...
Patent Ltd (operators of the "largest dog biscuit factory in the world" – see
Spratt's Complex
Spratt's Complex is a housing development in Poplar, London. The former pet food factory was converted into approximately 150 live-work units beginning in 1985. This was one of the first such warehouse conversions in London. The complex is on ...
) at 41–47 Bow Road, which was converted into a building for the Faculty of Economics founded by
Maurice Peston, Baron Peston
Maurice Harry Peston, Baron Peston (19 March 1931 – 23 April 2016) was a British economist and Labour life peer. His research interests included macroeconomic policy and the economics of education.
Personal
Peston was born in 1931 in London, ...
. Both faculties were physically separated from what was now a campus to the west.
From the mid-1960s until the mid-1980s the college was in a period of uncertainty and flux. Much planning was dominated by the "BLQ scheme" which proposed to link Queen Mary College with the
London Hospital Medical College
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...
and
St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College
, mottoeng = Temper the bitter things in life with a smile
, parent = Queen Mary University of London
, president = Lord Mayor of London
, head_label = Warden
, head = Mark Caulfield
, students = 3,410
, undergrad = 2,23 ...
with a joint facility in Mile End, but the land was not yet available. Over the period land that came onto the market was purchased with the intention to consolidate as soon as possible. The Queen Mary College Act 1973 was passed "to authorise the disposal of the Nuevo burial ground in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...
and to authorise the use for other purposes thereof..." and gave the authority to disinter and reinter most of the graves to
Dytchleys. A further link with both The London and St. Bartholomew's was made in 1974 when an anonymous donor provided for the establishment of a further hall of residence in Woodford, to be divided equally between Queen Mary College students and the two medical colleges.
Nuclear reactor
From 1964 until 1982 QMC maintained a nuclear reactor, the first to be built for a UK university. A reactor was commissioned on the Mile End site beneath
Mile End Road
The A11 is a major trunk road in England. It runs roughly north east from London to Norwich, Norfolk, although after the M11 opened in the 1970s and then the A12 extension in 1999, a lengthy section has been downgraded between the suburbs o ...
and operated from around 1964 to 1966 at around 1
kW. This reactor was the brainchild of the first Professor of Nuclear Engineering,
Walter Murgatroyd, and was managed by John Shaw. The reactor was purchased from
de Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
. In 1966 it was decommissioned and a new 100 kW
Argonaut class reactor The Argonaut class reactor is a design of small nuclear research reactor. Many have been built throughout the world, over a wide range of power levels. Its functions are to teach nuclear reactor theory, nuclear physics and for use in engineering lab ...
was built at the new QMC Nucleonics Laboratory in Marshgate Lane,
Stratford, London
Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Chari ...
, upgraded in 1968, and decommissioned in 1982, with the site licence surrendered in November 1983. The Marshgate Lane site became part of the
Olympic Park
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics c ...
from 2006; in response to safety concerns about the former purpose of the site, a
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
spokesman was quoted as saying "In our view there's nothing to worry about."
1980 to 1989
At the start of the 1980s changing demographics and finances caused much concern through the university sector and led to a reorganisation of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. At Queen Mary some subjects, such as Russian and
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
were discontinued, whilst the college became one of five in the university with a concentration of laboratory sciences, including the transfer of science departments from
Westfield College
Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
,
Chelsea College,
Queen Elizabeth College
Queen Elizabeth College (QEC) was a college in London. It had its origins in the Ladies' (later Women's) Department of King's College, London, England, opened in 1885 but later accepted men as well.
The first King's 'extension' lectures for l ...
and
Bedford College.
From the mid-1980s onwards the college began expanding across the newly acquired land to the east, taking the campus to the
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...
. A part of the burial ground remains to this day, but the rest of the area has been absorbed by the college's expansion. The long-planned Pre-Clinical Medicine building for the BLQ Scheme finally materialised in the late 1980s, further strengthening the ties between the three colleges.
1989 to 2010
In 1989 Queen Mary College (informally known as QMC) merged with
Westfield College
Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
to form Queen Mary & Westfield College (often abbreviated to QMW). Over subsequent years, activities were concentrated on the Queen Mary site, with the Westfield site eventually sold.
In 1990, the London Hospital was renamed the Royal London Hospital, after marking its 250th year, and a reorganisation of medical education within the University of London resulted in most of the freestanding medical schools being merged with existing large colleges to form multi-faculty institutions. In 1995 the
London Hospital Medical College
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...
and
St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College
, mottoeng = Temper the bitter things in life with a smile
, parent = Queen Mary University of London
, president = Lord Mayor of London
, head_label = Warden
, head = Mark Caulfield
, students = 3,410
, undergrad = 2,23 ...
merged into Queen Mary & Westfield College to form the entity now named
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
, mottoeng = Temper the bitter things in life with a smile
, parent = Queen Mary University of London
, president = Lord Mayor of London
, head_label = Warden
, head = Mark Caulfield
, students = 3,410
, undergrad = 2,23 ...
.
In 2000 the college changed its name for general public use to Queen Mary, University of London; in 2013, the college legally changed its name to Queen Mary University of London.
The
VISTA telescope is a 4-metre class
wide-field telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
at the
Paranal Observatory
Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). It is located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile on Cerro Paranal at altitude, south of Antofagasta. By total light-collecting area, it ...
in Chile that was conceived and developed by Queen Mary University, costing approximately £36m.
The Westfield Student Village opened in 2004 on the Mile End Campus, bringing over 2,000 rooms to students and a huge array of facilities, restaurants, and cafes.
The
Blizard Building
The Blizard Building is a building in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It houses the Blizard Institute, formerly known as the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, part of Barts and The London School of Medicine and ...
, home to the Medical School's Institute of Cell and Molecular Science opened at the
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
campus in 2005. The award-winning building was designed by
Will Alsop
William Allen Alsop (12 December 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British architect and Professor of Architecture at University for the Creative Arts's Canterbury School of Architecture.
He was responsible for several distinctive and controversial ...
, and is named after
William Blizard
Sir William Blizard FRS FRSE PRCS FSA (1 March 1743 – 27 August 1835) was an English surgeon.
Life
He was born in Barn Elms, Surrey, the fourth child of auctioneer William Blizard. After an apprenticeship to a surgeon and apothecary in Mortl ...
, an English surgeon and founder of the
London Hospital Medical College
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...
in 1785.
The year 2006 saw the refurbishment of The Octagon, the original library of the People's Palace dating back to 1888.
In 2007 parts of the School of Law – postgraduate facilities and the
Centre for Commercial Law Studies
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and previously Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of ...
– moved to premises in
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...
in central London. The Women at Queen Mary Exhibition was staged in the Octagon, marking 125 years of Westfield College and 120 years of Queen Mary College.
In September 2009, the world's first science education centre located within a working research laboratory opened at the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, hoping to inspire children with school tours and interactive games and puzzles.
2010 to present
Queen Mary became one of the few university-level institutions to implement a requirement of the A* grade at A-Level after its introduction in 2010 on some of their most popular courses, such as Engineering, Law, and Medicine.
Following on from the
2010 UK student protests
The 2010 United Kingdom student protests were a series of demonstrations in November and December 2010 that took place in several areas of the country, with the focal point of protests being in central London. Largely student-led, the protests w ...
, Queen Mary set fees of £9,000 per year for September 2012 entry, while also offering bursaries and scholarships.
On 12 March 2012 it was announced that Queen Mary would be joining the
Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public university, public research university, research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its memb ...
in August 2012.
Later in March, Queen Mary and the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
announced the creation of a strategic partnership, including research collaboration, joint teaching of English, history and computer science undergraduates, and the creation of eight joint post-doctoral research fellowships.
In January 2013, Queen Mary established the world's first professorial chair in animal replacement science.
From 2014, Queen Mary began awarding its own degrees, rather than those of the University of London.
References
External links
Queen Mary University of London website
{{Queen Mary University of London, state=expanded
Queen Mary University of London
Educational institutions established in 1885
History of the University of London
Mile End
1885 establishments in England