Queen's College, Birmingham
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Queen's College was a medical school in central
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, and a predecessor college of the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
. It was founded by surgeon
William Sands Cox William Sands Cox (1802 in Birmingham – 23 December 1875 in Kenilworth) was a surgeon in Birmingham, England. Founding of Birmingham's first medical school He founded Birmingham's first medical school in 1825 as a residential Anglican-based ...
in 1825 as The Birmingham Medical School, a residential college for medical students. Cox's ambition was for the college to teach arts, law, engineering, architecture and general science. It was the first Birmingham institution to award degrees, through the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
.''A History of Birmingham'', Chris Upton, 1993, Cox went on to found the
Queen's Hospital Queen's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Romford in the London Borough of Havering. It was built on the site of the former Oldchurch Park, a short distance south of the town centre. It was opened in 2006 and serves a population of about ...
in Bath Row (Drury & Bateman, opened 1841) as a practical resource for his medical students. The 1828 Medical School became the Birmingham Royal School of Medicine in 1836. It became the Queen's College in 1843 by
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, but ...
.


History

The college started life in Temple Row and Brittle Street (now obliterated by Snow Hill station).''The Making of Birmingham: Being a History of the Rise and Growth of the Midland Metropolis'', Robert K. Dent, Published by J. L. Allday, 1894 From the date of its Royal Charter in 1843 a large
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
building (Drury & Bateman, 1843–5) was constructed opposite the
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
between Paradise Street (the main entrance) and Swallow Street, where a chapel was built to St James.''A History of the County of Warwick, Volume 7 – The City of Birmingham'', ed W. B. Stephens, University of London Institute of Historical Research, Oxford University Press, 1964 The building had large lecture theatre, laboratories, anatomical rooms, a dining hall and apartments for seventy students. The development of the college owed much to the legacy of
Samuel Wilson Warneford Samuel Wilson Warneford (1763 – 11 January 1855) was an astute and eccentric English cleric and philanthropist from an old but generally impoverished family. He married into money, as his father had done, and thereafter spent his life trying t ...
. The historian William Whyte says that Warneford – in life "a grasping, avaricious, bigoted reactionary" – and John Owens – "a parsimonious, work-obsessed, easily offended bachelor, who gave little to charity in his lifetime" and whose legacy was the basis for
Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Texas * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
– were "disagreeable men, with deep pockets and few friends". The two institutions were very different but in the characters of their benefactors lie fundamental similarities often found in history, that philanthropy is not necessarily selfless and that "the good are not always very nice". Warneford ensured that Queen's was an exclusively
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
institution and as much as
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
as a medical school. The building was given a new buff-coloured
terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
and brick front in 1904. Following internal quarrelling and lawsuits the medical and scientific departments split from the college and moved to the nearby
Mason Science College Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the Univer ...
in Edmund Street. Mason Science College became the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
in 1900 and developed a new campus in Edgbaston, although the Faculty of Arts remained at Edmund Street until the 1950s. The theological department of Queen's College did not merge with Mason College, and moved in 1923 to Somerset Road in Edgbaston, becoming the current Queen's Foundation, Birmingham. In the mid 1970s, the original Queen's College building was demolished, with the exception of the
grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
façade. The façade was incorporated into a new office and residential block named Queen's College Chambers, which was constructed in 1975–1976 by Watkins Gray Woodgate International.''Birmingham: Pevsner Architectural Guides'', Andy Foster, 2005


Academics and alumni

Notable academics and alumni of the college include: * Sir
Gilbert Barling Sir Harry Gilbert Barling, 1st Baronet (30 April 1855 – 27 April 1940) was an English surgeon. Life Barling was born at Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire and educated at a boarding school at Weston, near Bath. He went to Birmingham in ...
, 1st Baronet, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Professor of Surgery and Pro-Chancellor at the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
* Walter Brooks, Professor of Music and organist *
William Sands Cox William Sands Cox (1802 in Birmingham – 23 December 1875 in Kenilworth) was a surgeon in Birmingham, England. Founding of Birmingham's first medical school He founded Birmingham's first medical school in 1825 as a residential Anglican-based ...
, founded Birmingham's first medical school * Sir
Guy Dain Sir Harry Guy Dain FRCS (5 November 1870 – 26 February 1966) was a British physician. Between 1887 and 1894 Dain studied science and medicine at Mason College (a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham). He graduated with a Unive ...
, Chairman of the
British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...
1943–1949 (M.B. medicine) * Walter Foster, 1st Baron Ilkeston, physician and politician *
Charles Hardwick Charles Hardwick (22 September 1821 – 18 August 1859) was an English historian and a priest of the Church of England who became the Archdeacon of Ely. Life Hardwick was born in Slingsby, North Yorkshire, the son of Charles Hardwick, a join ...
, historian and a priest of the Church of England who became the Archdeacon of Ely *
Charles Rann Kennedy Charles Rann Kennedy (1808 – 17 December 1867) was an English lawyer and classicist, best remembered for his involvement in the Swinfen will case and the issues of contingency fee agreements and legal ethics that it involved. Life Kennedy ...
, lawyer and classicist * Richard Hill Norris, Professor of Physiology at Queen's College, described the function of platelets in the blood and invented the first successful dry photographic plate * George Vale Owen, one of the best-known spiritualists of the early twentieth century * Samuel William Langston Parker, surgeon *
Hugh Pope Henry Vincent Pope, better known as Fr. Hugh Pope (1869–1946), was an English Dominican biblical scholar, Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the ''Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum'', the future Pontifical University of Saint ...
, Dominican biblical scholar * John Postgate, surgeon and academic, a campaigner against food adulteration * Edward Smith, physician and medical writer *
Augustus Volney Waller Augustus Volney Waller FRS (21 December 1816 – 18 September 1870) was a British neurophysiologist. He was the first to describe the degeneration of severed nerve fibers, now known as Wallerian degeneration. Life The son of William Waller ...
, neurophysiologist * Sir Bertram Windle, Dean of the Medical Faculty and Professor of Anatomy at the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, President of Queen's College, Cork


References


External links

* {{Buildings and structures in Birmingham, England Education in Birmingham, West Midlands University of Birmingham Grade II listed buildings in Birmingham Medical schools in England Grade II listed educational buildings