Editing University of Bristol (section)

=== Foundation ===
The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the [[Merchant Venturers' Technical College]] (founded as a school as early as 1595) which became the engineering faculty of Bristol University.<ref>{{cite web|author=United Kingdom |url=http://www.merchantventurers.com/charitable-activities/education.html |title=Education – The Society of Merchant Venturers, Bristol UK |publisher=Merchantventurers.com |access-date=5 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829092557/http://merchantventurers.com/charitable-activities/education.html |archive-date=29 August 2009 }}</ref> The university was also preceded by [[Bristol Medical School]] (1833) and [[University College, Bristol]], founded in 1876,<ref name="BristolUniversityHistory" /> where its first lecture was attended by only 99 students.<ref>{{cite news | title = University of Bristol |work=The Guardian  | date = 1 May 2007 | access-date =6 December 2007 | url = http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/universityguide/profile/story/0,,478329,00.html | location=London}}</ref> 

The university was able to apply for a [[royal charter]] due to the financial support of the [[W. D. & H. O. Wills|Wills]] and [[Lewis Fry|Fry]] families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations and chocolate respectively (while there was no funding from [[Edward Colston]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The University and slavery |url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/university/anti-racism-at-bristol/university-slavery/ |access-date=21 July 2024 |website=University of Bristol}}</ref> A 2018 study commissioned by the university estimated 85% of the philanthropic funds used for the institution's foundation "depended on the labour of enslaved people".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/university/history/past-matters/|title=Past Matters: the University of Bristol and transatlantic slavery|work=University of Bristol|access-date=30 October 2019|archive-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030104906/http://www.bris.ac.uk/university/history/past-matters/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

The royal charter was gained in May 1909, with 288 undergraduates and 400 other students entering the university in October 1909. [[Henry Overton Wills III]] became its first chancellor.<ref name="BristolUniversityHistory" /> The University College was the first such institution in the country to [[Mixed-sex education|admit women on the same basis as men]].<ref name="BristolUniversityHistory" /> However, women were forbidden to take examinations in medicine until 1906.<ref name="archives-hub">{{cite web|title=Papers of the University of Bristol |publisher=Archives Hub |access-date=6 December 2007 |url=http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/03121903.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229151955/http://archiveshub.ac.uk/features/03121903.html|archive-date=29 February 2012 }}</ref>

{{quote box|align=right|width=23em<!--Don't use a max-width because it will squeeze the box too narrow on mobile-->|
There shall be from henceforth for ever in Our said City of Bristol a University...
|source= [[King Edward VII]], Charter of Incorporation of the University of Bristol, 4 December 1909<ref name="charter">{{cite web | title = Charter of Incorporation | publisher = University of Bristol | access-date =3 December 2007 | url = http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cms/go/statutes/regs/charter.html|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070930183415/http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cms/go/statutes/regs/charter.html |archive-date = 30 September 2007}}</ref>}}

Since the founding of the university itself in 1909, it has grown considerably and is now one of the largest employers in the local area, although it is smaller by student numbers than the nearby [[University of the West of England]].<ref name="HESA">{{cite web|url=http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0607.xls |title=Table 0a – All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2006/07 |access-date=5 April 2008 |format=[[Microsoft Excel]] spreadsheet |publisher=[[Higher Education Statistics Agency]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709132444/http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0607.xls |archive-date= 9 July 2013 }}</ref>