Collection GB 0103 UCLCA - University College London Archives

University College London was formally founded as the University of London on 11 February 1826. It was the first university to be established in London, and the first in England to allow secular admission. Despite efforts by founding members, it did not initially receive a Royal Charter, so was set up as a joint stock company selling shares at £100 each. From the initial group of shareholders 24 men were elected to form the university Council. Before academic sessions commenced in 1828, the Council established a competition for architects to propose a building design. The winning entry was awarded to William Wilkins and the foundation stone was laid during a ceremony on 30 April 1827. Work on the building was completed in stages, with the final additions being finished in 1977.

Initially 24 professors were appointed as the first teaching body of the university and inaugural British professorships in Modern Foreign Languages, English Language and Literature and Law were founded. Expensive building work and relatively small student numbers meant that the newly formed university struggled financially in its first few years of existence. However, development on site continued with the University College School founded in 1830 and the North London Hospital opened for the university’s medical students in 1834.

On 28 November 1836 the university received its Royal Charter and was renamed University College London (UCL). On the same day, a new University of London was established with the power to award degrees in medicine, arts and laws, to students from both UCL and King's College London. The following year the North London Hospital changed its name to University College Hospital (UCH), which it would remain until it became part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Trust in 1994.

In 1869 the first series of 'lectures for ladies' was given at UCL, under the auspices of the London Ladies' Educational Association. The first mixed classes for men and women were held in 1871 by John Elliott Cairnes, Professor of Political Economy. In the same year the Slade School of Fine Art was opened in the newly built north wing of the University. Women were admitted for the first time as full degree students to the Faculties of Science and of Arts and Laws in 1878 and the London Ladies’ Educational Association was disestablished. Initially women were not admitted on the same terms as men and between 1883-1912 had to be accepted by the Lady Superintendent of Women Students before being granted admission. Women were later admitted as full students to the Faculty of Medicine in 1917.

Under the University College London (Transfer) Act of 1905, in 1907 UCL was incorporated into the University of London and ceased to have a separate legal existence, also parting company with University College Hospital and University College School. It was not until 1977 that a new Royal Charter restored UCL's legal independence from the University of London. In the period that followed various mergers with local institutions marked a period of expansion for the university. In 1986 the Institute of Archaeology was incorporated into UCL and was followed by several medical mergers. The Institute of Neurology merged with UCL in 1997 and the following year the Royal Free Hospital Medical School joined the UCH Medical School, to create the current UCL Medical School. In 1999 the Eastman Dental Clinic also joined UCL. These mergers were later followed by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in 1999, the School of Pharmacy in 2012, and most recently the Institute of Education in 2014.