Page:Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.djvu/293

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SHOWELL'S DICTIONARY OF BIRMINGHAM.
281

tants. The students may be male or female of any creed, or of any birthplace, though preference is given to candidates from Mason's Orphanage, and to poisons born in Birmingham or Kidderminster, other things being equal. The site contains a little over an acre of land, extending through from Edmund Street, with a frontage of 149 feet, to Great Charles Street, with a frontage of 127 feet. About one half of the area is covered by the present buildings, which were erected from the designs of Mr. J. A. Cossins, who chose the 13th century style, with elaborations of a French character, its stone balconies, lofty gables, oriel and dormer windows, picturesque turrets, and numberless architectural enrichments, forming a contour quite unique in the Birmingham district, though much of its beauty is lost through the narrowness of the thoroughfare. The College is built in two blocks communicating by corridors, and contains several lecture and other large rooms, laboratories, class-rooms, &c., so arranged that the attendants on one department in no way interfere with others, there being about 100 apartments altogether, in addition to library, reading-rooms, private rooms, &c. The report for the year ending Founder's Day, February 23, 1884, showed the number of students in the day classes during the session to have been 366—viz., 229 male and 137 female students; while in the evening classes there were 118 male and 54 female students, 20 students attending some day as well as evening classes. The number of individual students registered during the session 1882-3, as attending day or evening classes, was 518, as against 462 in 1881-82, and 181 in l880-81. The accounts showed an expenditure for the year of £8,095 12s. 2d., of which £4,258 7s. 9d. was in respect of the teaching staff. The expenditure exceeded the income by £764 0s. 8d., principally on account buildings, repairs, &c. The trustees have lately made provision for nine scholarships, including two entrance scholarships of £30 each; one of £30, for students of one year's standing; two of £30 each, for two years' students; two of £20 each for honour students in the examinations of the University of London; and two technical scholarships of £30 each, one in the chemical and the other in the engineering department. The two last are known as the Tangye, Scholarships, having been given by Messrs. R. and G. Tangye, and funds are being raised for several others.

Queen's College.—Originally established in 1828 as the School of Medicine; being patronised afterwards by William IV., it being known as The Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, under which name it existed until incorporated by Royal Charter in 1843, when it was rechristened as The Queen's College. The first building erected for the use of the Royal School was located in Snow Hill, the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the present handsome Gothic edifice in Paradise Street being performed August I8, 1843, the chapel being consecrated in the following year. At first there was but a medical department, but, at the incorporation, a theological department was added, and for many years, principally through the exertions of Dr. Warneford and Mr. W. Sands Cox, it was one of the most thriving and popular Colleges in the kingdom, the courses of study qualifying for degrees at the University of London, and for diplomas of the Society of Apothecaries, and the Royal College of Surgeons; while theological students, with the College certificate, could go up for their B.A. degree, with only a twelve months' residence at the University. A department in connection with the Arts, Manufacture, and Commerce was opened in May, 1853, and a High School of Trade and Commerce, for giving an education specially adapted for youths intended for mercantile pursuits, was commenced in the autumn of 1877. An attempt to extend the