Town Council - Revision history

Pbarnaby: /* Opening of the University */

2015-02-26T09:37:27Z

Opening of the University

Pbarnaby at 12:22, 24 February 2015

2015-02-24T12:22:59Z

Pbarnaby: /* Sources */

2015-02-24T12:21:50Z

Sources

Pbarnaby: /* Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 */

2015-02-24T12:21:08Z

Universities (Scotland) Act 1858

Pbarnaby: /* Seizure of College Records by Town Council, 1704 */

2015-02-24T12:18:42Z

Seizure of College Records by Town Council, 1704

Pbarnaby: /* Rectorship of Edinburgh University */

2015-02-24T12:16:28Z

Rectorship of Edinburgh University

Pbarnaby: /* Rectorship of Edinburgh University */

2015-02-24T12:16:02Z

Rectorship of Edinburgh University

Pbarnaby at 14:59, 19 February 2015

2015-02-19T14:59:16Z

Show changes

Pbarnaby: /* Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 */

2015-02-19T14:28:00Z

Universities (Scotland) Act 1858

Pbarnaby: /* Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 */

2015-02-19T13:58:36Z

Universities (Scotland) Act 1858

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 == Opening of the University ==
-The Town Council next looked for a regent who, in the first instance, would be solely responsible for all teaching and administrative duties. At the recommendation of James Lawson, they turned to [[Robert Rollock (1555-1599)]], who had been educated at St. Andrews  University and employed there as a Regent of Philosophy since 1580. Having responded favourably to Lawson’s overtures, Rollock was interviewed by the Town Council and appointed Regent, initially for a one-year period, on 14 September 1583. On 16th October 1583, the Town Council appointed a committee to devise a curriculum for a four-year Master of Arts degree in consultation with Rollock. Next, the Town Council and Rollock devised an entrance examination on 11 October 1583, leading to the official opening of the College only three days later 14 October 1583. The Town Council would retain ultimate authority for appointing staff, approving curricula, and administering examinations until 1858.
+The Town Council next looked for a regent who, in the first instance, would be solely responsible for all teaching and administrative duties. At the recommendation of James Lawson, they turned to [[Robert Rollock (1555-1599)]], who had been educated at St. Andrews  University and employed there as a Regent of Philosophy since 1580. Having responded favourably to Lawson’s overtures, Rollock was interviewed by the Town Council and appointed [[Opening of Edinburgh University, 1583#The Regenting System|Regent]], initially for a one-year period, on 14 September 1583. On 16th October 1583, the Town Council appointed a committee to devise a curriculum for a four-year Master of Arts degree in consultation with Rollock. Next, the Town Council and Rollock devised an entrance examination on 11 October 1583, leading to the official opening of the College only three days later 14 October 1583. The Town Council would retain ultimate authority for appointing staff, approving curricula, and administering examinations until 1858.
 == Rectorship of Edinburgh University ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:22, 24 February 2015
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−	A unique element in the history of Edinburgh University is the ~~major~~ role played by the Town Council of Edinburgh in its foundation and governance.	+	A unique element in the history of Edinburgh University is the prominent role played by the Town Council of Edinburgh in its foundation and in its governance until 1858.

	== Foundation of Edinburgh University ==		== Foundation of Edinburgh University ==

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 *[[Sir Alexander Grant]], ''The Story of the University of Edinburgh during its First Three Hundred Years'', 2 vols (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1884)
 *Robert Kerr Hannay, 'The Foundation of the College of Edinburgh', in ''The History of the University of Edinburgh 1883-1933'', ed. A. Logan Turner (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1933), pp. 1-16.
 *Michael Lynch, 'The Creation of a College', in Robert D. Anderson, Michael Lynch, and Nicholas Phillipson, ''The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003), pp. 1-49.
 *''University of Edinburgh: Charters, Statutes, and Acts of the Town Council and the Senatus 1583-1858'' (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1937)
 [[Category:Governance]]

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 == Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 ==
-The Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 largely removed control of university affairs from the [[Town Council]] of Edinburgh, investing it in the university itself through the following measures:
+The Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 largely removed control of university affairs from the Town Council of Edinburgh, investing it in the university itself through the following measures:
 *The establishment of a University Court, chaired by the Rector (elected by the students), and consisting of the Principal, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and of [[Assessors]] appointed by the Rector, the [[Chancellor]], the Town Council, [[General Council]], and the Senatus Academicus. The Court's functions were to revise, on appeal, the acts of the Senatus Academicus, to sanction the expenditure by the Senatus of University funds and generally to undertake supervision of the professors.
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 Other significant measures included:
-*Removing the requirement that the [[Principal]] be a Minister of the Church of Scotland
+*Removing the requirement that the Principal be a Minister of the Church of Scotland
 *Increasing stipends for professors
 *Providing pensions for retired professors
 *Creating new chairs
 *Appointing assistants to professors (i.e. lecturers)
 == Sources ==

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 == Seizure of College Records by Town Council, 1704 ==
-In the interval between the death of [[Gilbert Rule (c1629-1701)]] and the appointment of a new [[Principal]] in [[William Carstares (1649-1715)]], the Regents and Professors of Edinburgh University took a number of steps which challenged the Town Council's authority over University matters. Firstly, they issued a protest against the requirement that they consult with the Town Council when electing Edinburgh University's Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church Scotland. Secondly, at a meeting of 20 January 1703, at which they styled themselves the 'Faculty of Philosophy', they resolved that the current 'magistrand' class would graduate privately rather than publicly as was usually the case. In order to justify their proceedings, the 'Faculty' evoked 'their undoubted right contained in the charter of erection, and their constant and uninterrupted custom in such cases'. Any such right was highly questionable, and it would have been normal procedure to request permission from the Town Council, who had historically taken considerable interest in graduations as a public function.
+In the interval between the death of [[Gilbert Rule (c1629-1701)]] and the appointment of a new Principal in [[William Carstares (1649-1715)]], the Regents and Professors of Edinburgh University took a number of steps which challenged the Town Council's authority over University matters. Firstly, they issued a protest against the requirement that they consult with the Town Council when electing Edinburgh University's Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church Scotland. Secondly, at a meeting of 20 January 1703, at which they styled themselves the 'Faculty of Philosophy', they resolved that the current 'magistrand' class would graduate privately rather than publicly as was usually the case. In order to justify their proceedings, the 'Faculty' evoked 'their undoubted right contained in the charter of erection, and their constant and uninterrupted custom in such cases'. Any such right was highly questionable, and it would have been normal procedure to request permission from the Town Council, who had historically taken considerable interest in graduations as a public function.
 Sir Alexander Grant interprets this move as a deliberate challenge to the Town Council, and the Council certainly treated it as such. The immediate result was a visitation of the University by Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council on 15 February 1703 which forced the University to back down on both matters. The Town Council issued an order requiring that the 'magistrand' class graduate publicly. On 12 May, however, they acceded to a petition from regent [[William Scott "primus" (1672-1735)]] that they be permitted to graduate privately after all, as so many of the class had already left Edinburgh at the end of the session. They nonetheless expressed their displeasure at learning that as many as fourteen of the class had privately graduated before the petition, and expressly forbade any such conduct in future.

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 == Rectorship of Edinburgh University ==
-When [[Alexander Henderson (c1583–1646)]] assumed the hitherto purely ceremonial role of [[Rector]] of Edinburgh University in 1640, it was his duty to be ‘the eye of the Council of the Town’. when the role was at last formally defined. While the [[Principal]] was responsible for the discipline and administration of the College, the Rector was to function as a supervisor or inspector on the Council’s behalf, but also as the spokesman for the College when making overtures to the Council. The Rectorship survived in this form until 1665, when the Town Council of Edinburgh resolved that the role of Rector should be held ''ex officio'' by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. This appears to have been a determined act of self-assertion on the Town Council's part. They appear to have felt slighted by [[William Colville (d. 1675)]], Principal of the University, whom they believed had given greater importance to the College of Justice than to the Council when choosing a Professor of Humanity. On the same day as they announced the transfer of the Rectorship, they called Colville before them to be 'gently reproved' for abusing his authority. University historians such as [[Sir Alexander Grant (1826-1884)]] have rued the short-sightedness of the Town Council in depriving themselves of their 'eye' at the University and the University of a mouthpiece in Council sessions. The Lord Provost seems to have acquired no greater authority from assuming the Rectorship, and indeed the title soon became purely symbolical. By 1838, Lord Provost Sir James Forrest of Comiston declared himself uncertain whether he was Rector or not at the trial of students following a 'snow riot'.
+When [[Alexander Henderson (c1583–1646)]] assumed the hitherto purely ceremonial role of [[Rector]] of Edinburgh University in 1640, it was his duty to be ‘the eye of the Council of the Town’. While the [[Principal]] was responsible for the discipline and administration of the College, the Rector was to function as a supervisor or inspector on the Council’s behalf, but also as the spokesman for the College when making overtures to the Council. The Rectorship survived in this form until 1665, when the Town Council of Edinburgh resolved that the role of Rector should be held ''ex officio'' by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. This appears to have been a determined act of self-assertion on the Town Council's part. They appear to have felt slighted by [[William Colville (d. 1675)]], Principal of the University, whom they believed had given greater importance to the College of Justice than to the Council when choosing a Professor of Humanity. On the same day as they announced the transfer of the Rectorship, they called Colville before them to be 'gently reproved' for abusing his authority. University historians such as [[Sir Alexander Grant (1826-1884)]] have rued the short-sightedness of the Town Council in depriving themselves of their 'eye' at the University and the University of a mouthpiece in Council sessions. The Lord Provost seems to have acquired no greater authority from assuming the Rectorship, and indeed the title soon became purely symbolical. By 1838, Lord Provost Sir James Forrest of Comiston declared himself uncertain whether he was Rector or not at the trial of students following a 'snow riot'.
 The transfer of the Rectorship marked the commencement of a power struggle between the Town Council and University culminating in the seizure of the College Records by the Town Council in 1704.

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:58, 19 February 2015
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	Under the [[Appointment of William Carstares as Principal of Edinburgh University, 1703\|Principalship of Carstares]], harmonious relations between the University and the Town Council were gradually restored. The eighteenth century was largely a period of fruitful collaboration between the two bodies, particularly during [[George Drummond (1688-1766)\|George Drummond]]'s six terms of office as Lord Provost of Edinburgh between 1725 and 1764. Conflict would break out again in the first half of the nineteenth century, until the [[Universities (Scotland) Act 1858]] granted Edinburgh University full control of its own affairs.		Under the [[Appointment of William Carstares as Principal of Edinburgh University, 1703\|Principalship of Carstares]], harmonious relations between the University and the Town Council were gradually restored. The eighteenth century was largely a period of fruitful collaboration between the two bodies, particularly during [[George Drummond (1688-1766)\|George Drummond]]'s six terms of office as Lord Provost of Edinburgh between 1725 and 1764. Conflict would break out again in the first half of the nineteenth century, until the [[Universities (Scotland) Act 1858]] granted Edinburgh University full control of its own affairs.
		+
		+	== Visitation of Edinburgh University by Royal Commission, 1826 ==
		+
		+	In 1826 a Royal Commission visited Edinburgh University and drew up reform plans which recommended taking ultimate control of university affairs away from the [[Town Council]] of Edinburgh.
		+
		+	The Royal Commission was largely appointed in response to a dispute between the [[Senatus Academicus]] and the Town Council over which body had the power to make regulations for degrees. This had arisen in 1824-25, when in response to a petition from [[James Hamilton (1767-1839)]], Professor of [[Midwifery]], the Town Council required that a full course in Midwifery be made a compulsory component of a degree in [[Medicine]]. The Senatus argued that arrangements for degrees and graduation were their responsibility alone, but were compelled to conform following a visitation of the University by the Town Council on 10 November 1825. An appeal to the Law Courts failed with the justiciary finding in favour of the Town Council.
		+
		+	Shortly before the Town Council's visitation however, the Senatus Academicus had petitioned the Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel to appoint a commission to settle the respective rights, powers, and privileges of the Senatus and the Town Council. On 25 August 1826, a Royal Commission was announced, partly in answer to the Senatus's petition but with a far wider remit. It was called to frame a code of rules, statutes, and ordinances for each university and college in Scotland. The Royal Commission arrived in Edinburgh on 31 August 1826, finally issuing their codes of regulations for the various Scottish Universities on 28 October 1830. These largely vindicated the Senatus Academicus. The Royal Commmission recommended the creation of a [[University Court]] with powers to inquire into and control revenues and expenditure and to originate 'improvements on the internal system of the University'. It was nearly thirty years, however, before the Commission's recommendations came into force. After an unsuccessful attempt to introduce legislation in 1836-37, they were finally embodied in the [[Universities (Scotland) Act 1858]].

	== Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 ==		== Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 ==