ABSTRACT
Leeds University developed from the Yorkshire College of Science which was founded in 1874. One of the main impulses behind the establishment at Leeds was the realisation by local manufacturers in the textile industry that in that industry and its associates Germany was going ahead faster. ‘Locally drawn’ can mean a circle up to where the Durham-with-Newcastle University’s catchment area began, west to the Pennines and into Manchester and Liverpool Universities’ territories, east to the sea and south to Sheffield’s bailiwick; but the great majority came from very close to Leeds. The University thought very well of itself and with some justification. At a time when Professorships were rare right across the country even a provincial university could appoint people of considerable distinction. The public summit of the University’s grandeur was the figure of the Vice-Chancellor, who lived in a large ‘Lodge’, with servants, a mile or two out and was driven in each day in a Rolls-Royce.
