Opening of University Union, 1889

The University Union in Teviot Row House was opened in 1887-88. It is is the oldest purpose built student union in the world.

Following its formation in 1884, the Students' Representative Council set as its first priority the opening of a University Union. Buoyed by its successful contribution to the Tercentenary Festival, the SRC set about public fundraising. Over, £10,000 paid was raised by a Fancy Fair at Waverley Market in November 1886. The new Union was built very much on the lines of a Victorian gentleman's club. It included a restaurant, library, and debating hall, which would become both a meeting place for many university societies and a venue for dances and other social events. Membership was by subscription, however, and only a small minority of students joined. Medical students were initially in a great majority, as the Union premises in Teviot Row adjoined the newly opened Medical School.

Other University Events in 1887

• First Publication of the Student
• Foundation of University Hall

See Also

• Foundation of Students' Representative Council, 1884

Sources

• Robert D. Anderson, 'The Construction of a Modern University', in Robert D. Anderson, Michael Lynch, and Nicholas Phillipson, The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003), pp. 103-207.
• Sir Thomas Henry Holland, 'Introduction', in A. Logan Turner (ed.), History of the University of Edinburgh 1883-1933 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1933), pp. xiii-xxx.