Oxford University Act 1854 Explained

Type:	Act
Short Title:	Oxford University Act 1854^[1]
Parliament:	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:	An Act to make further Provision for the good Government and Extension of the University of Oxford, of the Colleges therein, and of the College of Saint Mary Winchester.^[2]
Year:	1854
Statute Book Chapter:	17 & 18 Vict. c. 81
Royal Assent:	7 August 1854
Original Text:	http://web.archive.org/web/20160913032441/http://educationengland.org.uk/documents/acts/1854-oxford-uni-act.html

The Oxford University Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 81), also known as the Oxford University Reform Act 1854^[3] or the University Reform Act 1854,^[4] is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which regulates corporate governance at the University of Oxford, England. It established the Hebdomadal Council, the leading body in the university's administration, stating that most members of full-time academic staff were to have voting rights over it. In the year 2000, the Hebdomadal Council was replaced by the University Council, which is responsible to the Congregation of staff members.

Act

The Oxford University Act 1854 made substantial changes to how Oxford University was administered.^[5] It established the Hebdomadal Council as the university's governing body; appointed Commissioners to deal with emoluments and variations in historic endowments; and opened the university to students outside the Church of England, as there was no longer a requirement to undergo a theological test or take the Oath of Supremacy. In practice, this allowed many more Scots to attend the university.

In 1850, a parliamentary commission was set up to revise the statutes drawn up by Archbishop William Laud. The original Bill proposed by Lord John Russell was much more limited in scope, however dissenters effectively mobilised, threatening to block the bill, unless the theological tests were dropped.

The reforms curbed the power of heads of colleges, creating a more centralised university authority. Dons no longer had to be in Holy Orders.^[6]

Theological tests

The subject of dropping the theological Test was not new as James Heywood described in the parliamentary debate:

See also

• Universities Tests Act 1871

References

• Paterson, William (ed). The Practical Statutes of the Session 1854. John Crockford. London. 1854. Pages 126 to 128.
• The Oxford University Calendar 1859. Pages 25 to 42.
• A Collection of the Public General Statutes, passed in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. 1854. Pages 276 to 284.

External links

• Text of the Act (as amended)

Notes and References

1. The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule.  Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978. This short title was previously conferred on this Act by the Schedule to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1877, and by the Short Titles Act 1892.
2. The words "and of the College of Saint Mary Winchester" in the title were repealed by section 1 of, and the Schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1892.
3. Culling Eardley. The Rights of the Laity in the Universities. 1856. Page 42.
4. Sabine Chaouche. Student Consumer Culture in Nineteenth-Century Oxford. Palgrave Macmillan. 2020. p 231. Associazione per lo studio della rappresentanza proporzionale. Bolletino. vol 1. p 24.
5. News: Oxford Reform Bill: A retrospect and a warning. 25 July 2013. Spectator. 12 August 1854.
6. Book: Dougill, John. Oxford in English Literature: The Making, and Undoing, Of the English Athens. 1998. University of Michigan. 104. 9781467004671.