Skip to main content

University of Edinburgh (Scottish University)

 Organization

Biography

The University of Edinburgh was established by Royal Charter in 1582. It was originally called Tounis College, when part of a legacy left by Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney in 1558 had established a college of which the Town Council had gained control to establish a College of Law on the South side of Edinburgh. The inception of the University took place in 1583. In 1617 when King James VI of Scotland (I of England) visited the College it was decreed that the College should change its name to King James' College, although the College continued to use the older title. The first change in the corporate body of the University was not until 1935 when the first merger took place. This was between the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh and New College. This was due to the re-union of the Church of Scotland in 1932.The next merger was in 1951 when the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School was reconstituted as part of the University of Edinburgh. The Royal (Dick) Veterinary School achieved full faculty status in 1964. In 1998 Moray House Institute of Education became the Faculty of Education.

The first classes of the university were held in Hamilton House known as the Duke's Lodge. In 1582 a site that included St Mary in the Fields was acquired. Many new buildings and extensions were made to the site of Hamilton House after 1616. Two prominent stages of building for the University were those undertaken by Robert Adam and William Playfair. In 1869 the site next to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was acquired. Building on this project was completed by the end of the 19th century. The University today is situated around these areas in the centre of Edinburgh and Kings Buildings and there are also campuses at Holyrood and elsewhere.

Teaching began in 1583 under Robert Rollock, with a four year course in arts to gain a masters of arts. When Rollock was appointed as the first principal of the University, there were four Philosophy regents and one regent of Humanity, whilst Rollock specialized in Divinity. Until the beginning of the 18th century the University remained essentially an Arts College, with a Divinity School attached. Throughout the 17th century the Chairs of Divinity, Oriental Languages, Ecclesiastical History and Mathematics had been created. By the end of the 17th century there was also regular teaching in Medicine, and sporadic teaching in Law. The University was at the centre of European Enlightenment in the 18th century. By 1722 a Faculty of Law had been established. The first medical Chair had been established in 1685 and was closely followed in the first half of the 18th century by six more. Four more medical Chairs were created in the 19th century. New Chairs in other Faculties were not established after 1760 until the latter half of the 19th century when they followed in rapid succession, continuing in the 20th century, which include those produced by the mergers with New College, the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School and Moray House Institute of Education.

The University was governed by the town council until the Universities (Scotland) Act of 1858, when it received self governing status. The archaic teaching and management system of regents was abolished in 1708. The 1858 act dramatically changed the constitution of the University. A University Court and General Council were introduced which decided on matters and management pertaining to the whole University. The Senatus Academicus was already in place before 1858and this managed academic matters, but answered to the Court and Council. This system is still used.

The University of Edinburgh provides validation for a Master of Fine Arts that has run jointly with Edinburgh College of Art since 1943. A joint chair, the Hood Chair of Mining Engineering was established in 1923 with Heriot-Watt College which became Heriot-Watt University.

In 2002, the structure of the university was altered substantially, with the abolition of Faculties and the creation of the College of Humanities & Social Science, the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine and the College of Science & Engineering. Departments were replaced by Schools within each Faculty.

Found in 280 Collections and/or Records:

Papers and slides of Rev. George Hastie, Edinburgh University former student

 Fonds — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Coll-1946
Scope and Contents This fonds consists of the lectures notes, photographs and slides of Rev. George Hastie, student at the University of Edinburg in the late 1960s. The lecture notes were taken by Hastie for his MA course at Edinburgh Univertsity between 1967 and 1970. The slides show photographs taken by Hastie in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Also includes a rectorial election leaflet entitled 'The Making of a Rector', printed for the Tom Hutton Campaign in 1968.1. The lecture notes include a complete set...
Dates: 1966-1970

Papers in Natural History, 1780s

 Item
Identifier: Coll 205/1 (Dc.1.18)
Scope and Contents

'Natural History of the Inhabitants of the Highlands, Book 2, with a glossary. 'Collection of Animals Brought from China an. 1787, by Mr Somerville Wilson, Surgeon of the Lord North Indiaman.' A 1789 museum inventory. Economic evaluation of proposed navigation between the Murray Forth and the Sound of Mull. Addendum to the essay on peat. Tables of mineral genera. Lists of natural history students in Edinburgh from 1782 (approximately 100 mostly handwritten pages of text and tables).

Dates: 1780s

Papers of Conrad Hal Waddington

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-41
Scope and Contents Contains: laboratory notebooks and bundles of research notes, including many from Waddington's early years of research in Cambridge in the 1930s; manuscripts, typescripts and related correspondence, including draft manuscripts of New Patterns in Genetics and Development and Principes of Development and Differentiation, and...
Dates: 1923-1976

Papers of Dr. John Walker

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-205
Scope and Contents

[to be completed]

Dates: 1731-1803

Papers of Godfrey H. Thomson

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-1310
Scope and Contents Biographical and personal papers, c mid 19th century-1972; Publications authored and co-authored by Thomson, 1904-1954; Unpublished materials by Thomson, 1897-1954; Publications collected by Thomson regarding education, intelligence, psychology, and statistics, 1879-1971 Unpublished material collected by Thomson and authored by others, c mid 20th...
Dates: c1890s-1978

Papers of James Cossar Ewart

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-14
Scope and Contents Contains: Coll-14/1 - Medals, including those presented at school in Penicuik and while at Edinburgh University. There are also medals won for prize animals at various shows; Coll-14/2 - Certifcates, Diplomas and Letters of Appointment, including Ewart's medical qualification certificates, and his commission of appointment to the Regius Professorship of Natural History at the University...
Dates: 1866-1935

Papers of John Baillie, 1900-1964

 Sub-Fonds
Identifier: BAI 1
Scope and Contents

school and university notes; awards and achievements; lectures, addresses and broadcasts; sermons and prayers; manuscripts of published works; papers relating to the World Council of Churches, British Council of Churches, General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and other organisations; personal and professional correspondence

Dates: 1900-1964

Papers of Professor Roger Davidson

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-1497
Scope and Contents

The collection of Papers of Professor Roger Davidson is composed of his material used in the preparation of two of his books: The Sexual State: sexuality and Scottish governance 1950-80 (Edinburgh: EUP, 2012), and Illicit and Unnatural Practices: The Law, Sex and Society in Scotland since 1900 (Edinburgh: EUP, 2019). See the box lists for more details.

Dates: 2000s-2010s (creation of notes and research material themselves); 1880s-1980s (date of source material)

Papers of Professor Sir Thomas Broun Smith

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-1250
Scope and Contents The collection is composed of (in many cases simply copies of) cases, reports, drafts, memoranda, off-prints, articles, notes, correspondence, lectures and addresses, news-clippings and other material relating to: Defective consent Illegality of obligations / Illegality and morailty / Illegal contracts Contract code / Contract code - Minors Unjustified...
Dates: 1960-1985

Papers of Professor Walter Ledermann

 Fonds — Box CLX-A-667
Identifier: Coll-1064
Scope and Contents

The collection largely consists of letters from Godfrey Thomson to Ledermann. Many are highly mathematical in content, containing formulae and mathematical notation, though they also regard social events and contain enquiries from Thomson with regards to the safety of Ledermann's family throughout the war.

Dates: 1937-1954