Editing University of Sydney (section)

===1850–1950===
{{See also|William Wentworth#Education advocate|Charles Nicholson#Sydney University}}[[File:Parramattard1870susyd.jpg|thumb|The University of Sydney as viewed from [[Parramatta Road]] in the early 1870s]]
[[File:Sydney-university-regiment-duke-of-york-visit-1927.jpg|thumb|The [[Sydney University Regiment]] forming a guard of honour for the visit of the [[George VI|Duke of York]] (later [[George VI]]) to the university in 1927]]

In 1848, [[William Wentworth]], a [[University of Cambridge]] alumnus, and Sir [[Charles Nicholson]], a [[University of Edinburgh Medical School]] alumnus, proposed in the [[New South Wales Legislative Council|Legislative Council]] a plan to expand the existing [[Sydney Grammar School|Sydney College]] into a university. Wentworth argued that it would provide the opportunity for "the child of every class, to become great and useful in the destinies of his country" and that a state secular university was imperative for a society aspiring towards self-government.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /><blockquote>So far from being an institution for the rich, I take It to be an institution for the poor. ... I trust that, from the pregnant womb of this institution will arise a long list of illustrious names—of statesmen—of patriots—of philanthropists—of philosophers—of poets and of heroes, who will shed a deathless halo, not only on their country, but upon the University which called them into being.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 April 1907 |title=Sydney University. Its origin and development. |work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238045283 |access-date=9 August 2023 |language=en-AU |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810225141/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238045283 |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>He promoted access on the basis of merit rather than religious or social status. It took two attempts on Wentworth's behalf before the plan was finally adopted.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |url=http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-79.html |title=University of Sydney Act 1850 (NSW) |work=Documenting Democracy |access-date=21 June 2013 |archive-date=21 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421133635/http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-79.html |url-status=live}}; J. Horne, Political machinations and sectarian intrigue in the making of Sydney University, [http://australiancatholichistoricalsociety.com.au/pdfs/achs%20journal%202016%20altered%20final.pdf ''Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society'' 36 (2015)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215001047/http://australiancatholichistoricalsociety.com.au/pdfs/achs%20journal%202016%20altered%20final.pdf |date=15 February 2017 }}, 4-15.</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Founding of Sydney University |url=https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/sydney-university |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=[[National Museum of Australia]] |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810225241/https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/sydney-university |url-status=live }}</ref>

The university was established via the passage of the ''University of Sydney Act 1850'' (NSW) on 24 September 1850,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=79 |title=Documenting Democracy |website=Documenting Democracy |access-date=22 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017060853/http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=79 |archive-date=17 October 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and was assented on 1 October 1850 by governor Sir [[Charles Augustus FitzRoy|Charles Fitzroy]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51788553 |title=William Charles Wentworth. |newspaper=[[Rockhampton Bulletin]] |location=Qld. |date=21 May 1872 |access-date=1 May 2012 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822060424/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51788553 |url-status=live}}</ref> Wentworth was among the first members of the university's senate, mentioned in the governor's proclamation alongside three religious ministers.<ref name=":4" /> Two years later, the university was inaugurated on 11 October 1852 in the Big Schoolroom of what is now [[Sydney Grammar School]]. The first principal was [[John Woolley (educator)|John Woolley]],<ref>
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
 |first=K. J. |last=Cable
 |title=Woolley, John (1816–66)
 |id2=woolley-john-4885
 |access-date=24 August 2013 }}</ref> the first professor of chemistry and experimental physics was [[John Smith (New South Wales politician, born 1821)|John Smith]].<ref>
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
 |last=Michael Hoare |first=Joan T. Radford
 |title=Smith, John (1821–85)
 |id2=smith-john-4608
 |access-date=23 August 2013
}}</ref> Sir [[William Charles Windeyer]] was the first graduate.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal |author1= |title=One Hundred Years of Tertiary Education |journal=Education |volume=31 |issue=14 |pages=4 |publication-date=1950-09-28 |publisher=N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation |issn=0013-1156}}</ref> The university was Australia's first, as well as being one of the first public, non-denominational and secular universities in the [[British Empire]].<ref name=":4" /> On 27 February 1858, the university received a [[royal charter]] from [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]], giving degrees conferred by the university rank and recognition equal to those given by universities in the United Kingdom.<ref name="royal_charter">{{Cite web |last=Romilly |first=C. |date=27 February 1858 |title=Royal Charter of the University of Sydney |url=https://www.sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2011/51&RendNum=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116094643/http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2011%2F51&RendNum=0 |archive-date=Jan 16, 2013 |website=University of Sydney}}</ref>

In 1858, the passage of the ''Electoral Act'' provided for the university to become a constituency for the [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly]] as soon as there were 100 graduates of the university holding higher degrees eligible for candidacy. This [[Electoral district of University of Sydney|seat in the New South Wales legislature]] was first filled in 1876, but was abolished in 1880, one year after its second member, Sir [[Edmund Barton]], who later became the first [[Prime Minister of Australia]], was elected to the Legislative Assembly.<ref name="5B record">{{NSW Parliamentary Record |part=5B |access-date=2020-10-31 }}</ref><ref name="Green University of Sydney">{{Cite NSW election |last=Green |first=Antony |author-link=Antony Green |title=Elections for the District of University of Sydney |year=DistrictIndexes |district=University of Sydney |access-date=2020-10-31}}</ref>

The university was one of the first in the world to admit women on an equal basis with men, doing so from 1881.<ref name=":4" /> In 1885 the first women to receive BA degrees from the university were [[Mary Elizabeth Brown]] and [[Isola Florence Thompson]],<ref name=":3" /> while Thompson became the first woman to graduate with an MA in 1887.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Isola Florence Thompson |url=https://wmoa.com.au/herstory-archive/thompson-isola-florence |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=Women's Museum of Australia |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130062916/https://wmoa.com.au/herstory-archive/thompson-isola-florence |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Most of the estate of [[John Henry Challis]] was bequeathed to the university, which received a sum of £200,000 in 1889. This was thanks in part due to Sir [[William Montagu Manning]] (chancellor 1878–95) who argued against the claims by British tax commissioners. The following year, seven professorships were created in anatomy, zoology, engineering, history, law, logic and mental philosophy, and modern literature.

In 1924, the university awarded its first Doctor of Science in Engineering degree to [[John Bradfield (engineer)|John Bradfield]]. His thesis was titled "The City and Suburban Electric Railways and the Sydney Harbour Bridge". Bradfield went on to be the lead engineer for the construction of the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bradfield |first=John Jacob Crew |date=1924 |title=The City and Suburban Electric Railways and the Sydney Harbour Bridge |url=https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/11968 |url-status=live |access-date=15 October 2021 |website=University of Sydney |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123014516/https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/11968}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-11 |title=Sydney Harbour Bridge Guide |url=https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/sydney-harbour-bridge-guide |access-date=2021-10-15 |website=State Records NSW |archive-date=18 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218203227/http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-37 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The university's professor of philosophy from 1927 to 1958, [[John Anderson (philosopher)|John Anderson]], was a significant figure referred to as "Sydney's best known academic".<ref name="Franklin 2003">{{cite book |last=Franklin |first=James |author-link=James Franklin (philosopher) |date=2003 |title=Corrupting the Youth: A history of philosophy in Australia |url=https://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/corruptingtheyouthch1.pdf |location=Sydney |publisher=Macleay Press |page=7 |isbn=1876492082 |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107064634/https://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/corruptingtheyouthch1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A native of Scotland, Anderson's controversial views as a self-proclaimed [[atheist]] and advocate of [[Freethought|free thought]] in all subjects raised the ire of many, even to the point of being censured by the state legislature in 1943.<ref name="Franklin 2003" />{{rp|20–1}}