On 24 May 1909, 33 years after University College opened, the Charter, approved by King Edward VII, came into effect. It was a day of celebration across Bristol and the beginning of the story told in our University timeline. Bristol is at the cutting edge of global research. We have made innovations in areas ranging from cot death prevention to nanotechnology.
"University College, Bristol existed from 1876 to 1909 and was the precursor to the University of Bristol.
Its history can be traced back to the efforts of John Percival, headmaster of Clifton College, to press for the establishment of such an institution. In 1872, Percival wrote to the Oxford colleges observing that the provinces lacked a university culture. The following year he produced a pamphlet called 'The Connection of the Universities and the Great Towns', which was well received by Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol College, Oxford. Jowett was to become a significant figure, both philosophically and financially, in the establishment of University College, Bristol."
